Converse With Languages From Around The World
Program helps faculty and staff share American culture, language
With handouts and photos spread out in front of them, four members of Duke's international community looked over the information about American winter holiday traditions that were largely foreign to them.
While talking about Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, the group spoke and repeated the holiday names in English to internalize and learn what they were saying. The dialogue was a part of a recent meeting of the "International Conversation Cafe," a program run by the Thompson Writing Program to promote casual conversations about current events and intercultural perspectives with non-native English speakers.
The group, which meets from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. weekly in the Bryan Center during academic semesters, is open to all members of the Duke community and acts as a mutual learning opportunity native and non-native English speakers.
"Some international students or their family members may often find themselves in situations where they're not spending as much time communicating in English as they'd like," said Rene Caputo, a lecturing fellow with the Thompson Writing Program and an organizer of the Conversation Cafe. "Our program offers a great opportunity for anyone to help others learn about American culture and speak better English."
Caputo said that native English speakers are especially welcome because weekly groups often feature eight or nine international students, employees, scholars or spouses who want to improve their English with the help of others. Meetings are low-key, featuring group and paired conversations about topics like recycling, cultural norms, superstitions, education and more.
Seung Chan Park, a visiting scholar in the Department of Political Science, started attending the International Conversation Cafe in November because he wanted to work on his English and learn about American culture. Park is from South Korea, where he'll return this spring to give a presentation in English to employees at Kotra, a trade-investment agency.
"It's hard to find places to practice English, so these meetings are very helpful," he said. "I'm not able to learn about American experiences or language in another setting that's so comforting."
Since Conversation Cafe started in the fall of 2009, Duke community members visiting campus from countries like Bulgaria, Armenia, Kurdistan, China and more have participated in the program. Caputo said an aim of the program is to boost the confidence of international community members with communicating in English.
"Meeting with faculty and staff who are native English speakers is incredibly valuable for Duke's international population not only to better learn the language, but to understand our culture," Caputo said. "It's also fun for Duke faculty and staff because we get to help them learn about the cultures of the international participants."