Upon coming into the United States, especially being a student of Green River Community College (GRCC), most international students have a bright dream to study to where they've never been before. However, the biggest problem they should face with is always waiting for them; English.
According to the international programs office (IP), 3,681 international students have been enrolled at GRCC since last winter quarter. 1,011 were enrolled just in winter; 1,018 during last spring, 590 in during summer, and 1,062 throughout last fall.
It’s an obvious fact that these students’ English skills are the first thing they learn when coming to America. The problem is, most international students don’t know what GRCC can do to help them improve their English skills?
"When I came here, I had much difficultly speaking English, so I asked my instructors what to do and they said we should speak and listen to English as many times as we can to practice our English. Also, what they recommended us to do was make American friends," says JaeSeong Kim, an international student. "But it is honestly not easy without help from the school because international students don't get many chances to meet Americans, even in our classes."
Green River has two programs that can help international students improve their English outside of the classroom; conversation partner program and campus talk.
Student can sign up to get a conversation partner who can help them out with speaking English. The school provides the time and place for them to meet. There are also two volunteers at the cafeteria every Tuesday and Thursday to help international student speak and practice English.
A small survey done of twenty-two international students showed that thirteen of them had never heard of any of these programs offered to them. "I know it's a good program and it has also some extra advantages such as making new American friends…," Chika Kojima, an IESL student said. "But what the problem is, as I heard, that there are not enough domestic students. Some of my friends already signed up for the conversation partner, but they haven't got their partners yet. That's why I haven’t."
Green River is doing their best in helping out the international students, but it is also their part to take some charge themselves and be proactive. For more information on the two programs, students can go to the IP offices located in the International Village.
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