English program
lets worlds collide
■The conversation program
pairs foreign and American
students to trade cultures.
BY MARGARET BEHM
University of Nebraska
Lincoln students have the
opportunity to learn all about
another country without leaving
campus.
The English Conversation
Program is for foreign students
who want to practice their
English with American students.
Helen Chunping Xu is
spending her first semester in
the United States after leaving
her homeland of China.
Chunping Xu said she joined
the program to improve her
speaking skills and learn about
people in the United States.
“The language is a big prob
lem,” said Chunping Xu, a grad
uate student. “Sometimes it
causes a big inconvenience.
Sometimes it can be very
embarrassing if I don’t know
how to express my ideas.”
' TVvo hundred-sixty students
signed up for the program, said
Piotrek Juszkiewicz, a coordina
tor of the program. Every inter
national student who wanted a
partner got one.
inursaay mgni me paruci
pants gathered in the Nebraska
Union to meet each other.
Brian Wandzilak said he was
excited to participate in the pro
gram.
“I think I’ll have a good
time,” said Wandzilak, a social
science major. “If you want to
learn about another culture, it’s
a good opportunity to do it.”
American students are lucky
to attend school with interna
tional students, Juszkiewicz
said.
“When I was going to college
in Poland, all of us were Polish,”
said Juszkiewicz, a graduate stu
dent in education. “You are real
ly blessed here because you
have access to students from
other countries.”
The partners spend only an
hour a week together. But what
they do during that hour is up to
them.
The one hour a week should
n’t be a problem, Wandzilak
said.
“It’s easy; it’s not a big com
mitment,” he said. “You’re basi
cally just helping a person
adjust to life here.”
Chunping Xu said she was
excited to participate in activi
ties such as shopping with her
partner.^
“From this program, I can
enrich my life,” she said. “We
can do many things together.”
Juszkiewicz said students
should enjoy the program, if
they participate for appropriate
reasons. For example, he said
the program is not a dating serv
ice.
“On the whole, students
have had the right expecta
tions,” he said. “When people
have the right expectations, it
works out great.”
*> Ml N TV ' .Ml I i'll 'liV-.. .=
■ ' . . . •
.
11
i_
Derek Lippincott/DN
Chinese interna
tional student
Shengqiang Xu
gets acquainted
Thursday night
with his new
English conver
sation partner
Matt Tritt, a sen
ior biology
major. English
conversation
partners will
serve as men
tors for the
international
students and
will meet with
them once a
week.
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