Community partners work together to improve language skills

Sometimes, the best way to improve something is to just sit down and talk about it.

That’s the idea behind the American Culture and Language Exchange, a program from Pitt’s English Language Institute. The exchange matches native English speakers with international students within the English Language Institute. Through the roughly decade-old program, partners learn from one another in a casual, conversational matter. 

Those interested can sign up for the program through a Google form. Brianne Harrison, an ELI faculty member and community outreach coordinator, matches an English speaker with an international student.  

According to Harrison, there were 66 participants in the program this summer. On average, Harrison said roughly 75 international students request a partner, equating to an estimated 150 partner groups. Native speakers can also choose to “double-up” and take on more than one conversation partner. 

“I have always believed in an outside of the classroom, beyond the four walls type of learning experience,” Harrison said.

Harrison emails each partner the other’s contact information. Then, the speaker and student must arrange a day and time to meet and get together for at least one hour each week throughout the term. 

Melanie Marino volunteers with ELI and had a conversational partner from Taiwan during her freshman year.

Marino, a junior business major, and her partner, Pei Wu, would meet at the Cathedral of Learning roughly once a week to talk about “whatever popped into our heads,” she said, or topics from ELI textbooks. 

Marino studies Chinese and Japanese and found out about the program after her Japanese professor, Sachiko Takabatake, posted about ELI on Courseweb.

“Studying in class and interacting with other students is nice and all, but this definitely helps you to get a sense of why you are learning the language in the first place,” Marino said.

Harrison said it’s challenging for the American Culture and Language Exchange to get its name out to the Pitt community and others in the Pittsburgh area who would be interested in the program. 

“I’m always thinking of new ways to reach the community and Pitt campus, as well as outside volunteers,” Harrison said. “I reach out anywhere and to anyone that I think I am going to find people who are interested in this sort of thing,”

Last week, the Culture and Language Exchange participated in Pitt’s volunteer fair, through which they recruited native English speakers to pass out flyers and spread the word about the exchange on campus.

Every semester, the program also hosts a “speed friending” session between native speakers and international students. It is the same concept as speed dating, without the romantic aspect, and the students can choose to exchange contact information after any of the rounds.

Stacy Ranson, ELI student services supervisor, works with Harrison on student pairing and availability. 

According to Harrison, ELI is often hit with a higher demand from ELI students for native English speakers than they can supply during the summer terms, when many Pitt students have gone home for break. 

“For the future, this is something that we definitely would like to improve, so we’re always looking for opportunities to expand our connections and visibility here, within the Pitt community,” Ranson said. “The fact that our students continue, term after term, to show such enthusiasm for the program speaks to its success.”

Despite the American Culture and Language Exchange’s smaller size, Ranson said she really enjoys being able to witness such positive interactions among people with distant backgrounds.  

“We really do believe that this type of exchange is such a valuable experience for both partners, and we hope that we can continue to increase the number of people we are able to bring together,” Ranson said.

Speaking with Wu has improved Marino’s Chinese conversational skills, and it was rewarding to see her personal progress.

“In the end you are taking the class to be able to communicate with native speakers, not just get a good grade,” Marino said. “Sometimes in class, you can forget that.”

Editor’s Note: In an article published Thursday, Sept. 18, titled, “Community partners work together to improve language skills,” it incorrectly said the exchange matches native English speakers with international students and members of the community who want to improve their English speakers skills. However, the program is only available to English Language Institute students, not to international students at Pitt or the larger Pittsburgh community. The Pitt News regrets this error.