Today, I had a wonderful experience at Washington State University. I visited the Intensive American Language Center (IALC). It is a school where international students study English before entering the university. I met many international students there. They were from Saudi Arabia, China, Japan and Brazil. I learned two interesting things while talking and spending time with them.
First, I was very surprised that the students from different countries are different each other both in their culture and their personality. My group has Chinese, Japanese, Saudi Arabian and Brazilian students. They are different ages and have different customs. For example, one of the students who is from Saudi Arabia was wearing traditional Middle Eastern clothes. She has to hide their body except her face and hands because of her religion. It was my first time to see a person who is wearing traditional Middle Eastern clothes so I was really surprised. Also, one of the students was a 31-year old and has a husband and a child. She lives in Pullman with them. The students in the class has a distinct quality. It was really interesting for me.
Second, there are big differences about their personalities among the students from different countries. There are a lot of Chinese people there so Chinese people often speak Chinese to one another. On the other hand, when Chinese people were talking in Chinese, one Brazilian often said "English please" as if he were a teacher. Also, when I went out to lunch with them, a Brazilian was the first to teach everything to us about the lunch system. Moreover, Brazilian was very talkative and funny. It was my first time to talk with a Brazilian but I found they are very strict about learning English. It was really interesting for me to learn their personalities.
To sum up, it was very difficult to communicate in English to the students who are learning English. However, at the same time, it was good a opportunity to learn about different cultures and different personalities. I want to go WSU again to see my new friends.
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| New Fabulous Friends |
To sum up, it was very difficult to communicate in English to the students who are learning English. However, at the same time, it was good a opportunity to learn about different cultures and different personalities. I want to go WSU again to see my new friends.