English Together, an English language practice program at Iowa State in partnership with the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO), began a new semester of sessions Sept. 12.
Students, community members and volunteer leaders can gather for casual conversation and games from 4-5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in room 034 of Parks Library.
Vasudha Arora, a freshman in business analytics, said she has been volunteering as a conversation leader with English Together since the start of the program’s fall 2023 session.
“I’m an international student too, so I can be there in their shoes and understand how it feels to come from a different country, a totally foreign place, new people, everything is new,” Arora said.
Arora said volunteering for English Together interested her as someone who loves talking with and getting to know new people. Arora is an international student from Chandigarh, India, and said she knows firsthand the challenges of learning English as a second language.
Arora said she would recommend English Together to anyone, international or domestic, as it’s “a great way to make new friends and get to know about different cultures in different countries.”
Jenna Haffner, the international student engagement coordinator for ISSO, said anyone is welcome to participate in English Together. The program is not exclusive to just students and faculty at Iowa State.
“It’s really just [for] anybody who wants to get to know new people, wants to get to know new backgrounds and wants to help people improve their conversational English skills,” Haffner said.
Haffner works with the team of volunteer conversation leaders, assisting them in leading bi-weekly English Together sessions.
“Normally, the sessions are an hour long and a lot of it is just casual conversation, talking about differences in cultures, and things like that,” Haffner said. “But it’s also some games and things that can just help participants get to speak more conversational English.”
Sarah Stewart, a senior in mechanical engineering, said she had planned since the spring to become a fall semester volunteer with English Together. After studying abroad in Ireland, Stewart said she had experience being an international student at a foreign university.
“I know what it’s like to be in a new place and a new culture, and so I thought that I could bring my experience from that to help other students and other people from the community who come to English Together to feel comfortable talking to English and adjusting to life here,” Stewart said.
Arora said the program is more than just the volunteers.
“I think if more people come to the sessions, it will be great because firstly, larger attendance makes the discussion better, we can play more fun games,” Arora said. “I think that it’s not widely recognized right now. There are many people who I’m pretty sure would love to come, they just don’t know about it yet.”
To learn more about English Together, contact [email protected].
