Similar to most international students who come to GW from countries where English is not used in day-to-day life, I have experienced the difficulty of transitioning into an English-speaking environment. Fortunately, with great resources on campus, help from staff and faculty members, as well as the support provided by my wonderful friends, I am now thriving academically and professionally. Now, being a PAF, I want to give back to the university by improving international students’ individual experiences at GW.
One issue faced by many international students is the struggle to fully achieve English language proficiency. Despite the excellent English for Academic Purposes program and other academic-related support programs offered by GW, international students are still challenged by everyday English conversations. International students face a variety of challenges in daily conversation. First of all, there is no formal education focused on conversational English. Secondly, daily conversations include many socio-cultural references that further increase the difficulty. Lastly, mastering daily English requires a lot of practice. While liberal arts students enjoy more practical opportunities; students who are science majors or are in graduate programs lack such opportunities to better their English proficiency.
As a result, I initiated the Workshop on Conversational English program with the generous support from GW Language Center and the International Student Community. We aim to improve international students’ conformability with conversational English through workshops on specific topics that are important in American daily life.
The first pilot workshop was held on Friday, September 4. While we planned for 50 students to attend, 243 students signed up for the workshop in two days and 189 of them participated. With two facilitators from the Language Center and help from current PAFs – Chelsea Lenhart, Angela Sako, and Max Tingle - the two hour workshop focused on how to start conversations and how to communicate in situations such as restaurants and shopping malls. Participants also leared about American slang phrases, such as “lace up” and “I am pumped.”
The feedback from participants was promising and we held our second workshop on Friday, October 2. This session focused on health and academics. The last pilot workshop for this semester will be held on Friday, November 6 and the topic will be career-related. After that, we will review the program and (hopefully) officially launch it next semester.
