Conversation Partners help students learn English
Saudia Arabia freshman Ali Alobain at Bovee University Center on Wednesday, January 20, 2016.
English is not the first language of some Central Michigan University students.
Conversation Partners is a growing volunteer program that pairs students working on English language skills with proficient English speakers. The program had more than 300 English language learners last semester, which is double the participation in 2009. The organization had approximately 400 volunteers last semester.
“Our numbers have grown a lot,” said Caitlin Hamstra, associate director at the English Language Institute.
Hamstra is in charge of pairing volunteers with English language learners.
Hamstra said she usually partners volunteers, who tend to be domestic students, with international students who need help practicing English. Sometimes she pairs English-learners with faculty and staff who are proficient non-native English speakers.
“Usually they are international students who are in the English Language Institute who are still learning English, but some of them have finished ELI here and just want a little more practice," Hamstra said.
Hillman sophomore and psychology major Riley Appelgren joined Conversation Partners this year as a volunteer. She decided to participate to log volunteer hours for the Honors Program, and learn about other cultures.
"Some of my teaching assistants in the honors program recommended it to me as an interesting way to learn about new people and different cultures," Appelgren said. "I thought it would be a really good way for me to become a little more outgoing, since I was kind of a shy person at first."
Appelgren’s conversation partner, Ali Alobaid, is a Saudi Arabian freshman studying mechanical engineering. He has been living in the United States for slightly more than two years.
“As an international student I wanted to have a conversation partner so I can improve my English language," Alobaid said. "She has helped me a little bit with my conversation and speaking.”
Appelgren said the program is helping her as well.
“(Conversation Partners) definitely made me a little more comfortable with talking to people because we started out as strangers and now we know quite a bit about each other. We talk about our families and our hobbies and things we like to do and different funny stories we’ve had along the way,” she said.
Hamstra explained that the program reinforces the importance of practicing English outside the classroom.
"Students get a lot of academic writing, reading, listening, speaking and grammar in class, but this is an opportunity for them to hear English and use it in more natural ways with their peer group, people who are their age," she said.
Appelgren said she recommends the Conversation Partners program.
“I’ve learned a lot of things that I didn’t previously think about or realize, like about the climate in the area that he lived in and about the city he lived in and about their culture, especially," she said.
Alobaid’s first language is Arabic. Every semester, Alobaid said he is assigned a new Conversation Partner and has kept in touch with some past partners with whom he has formed close relationships.
“I am (also) shy and I want to improve my conversation with people. I want to speak better with someone from a different culture," he said.
Applications to volunteer for Conversation Partners can be found at www.eli.cmich.edu.
