When some come to the Unite States to study abroad, the language difference can be a barrier.

English is the main language in America and it’s also the language of business globally, meaning if you want to be able to communicate well with the people around you then speaking English is a must.

That’s why the International Students and Scholars office created the English Together Program: a one-hour commitment every day to sit down and have a conversation with someone in English.The program runs during the school year and summer.

Vy Vo, the English Together coordinator, said the program was started a few years ago with the purpose of helping international students become more comfortable with speaking English.

Vo said the response to the program has been significant. The international students find it helpful that they’re able to have a casual conversation with someone, meet some new friends and also improve their English.

At every meeting there are native English speakers that help lead the conversation. Each conversation leader gets assigned a group of students and the leaders typically have a sheet with different topics to go off.

Troy Blackwood, a junior in supply chain management, is involved with the program and said he wants to be able to communicate with people from different parts of the world/ He also wants to help the international students adjust to the life here in Ames.

Another student, Gabriela Berrios, is part of this program because it is related to her major. 

Berrios is a junior in linguistics with a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language. She said English Together helps her practice for becoming a teacher and she also enjoys meeting international students.

While sitting around a table you also meet people like Jeil Park, a graduate student in electrical engineering, who comes to English Together so that he can take a break from staring at a computer screen.

Park said a lot of the time he doesn’t get the opportunity to talk about his story, so he takes advantage of this occasion to tell people about who he is.

There are also people involved in the program who aren’t current students at Iowa State.

A. Erden has been coming to the program for about a year and a half and said the program gives her an opportunity to practice speaking English. Erden has a bachelor’s in Turkish and is hoping to continue her education but she said she has to strengthen her English skills first.