Want to practice a foreign language without the pressure of getting a grade?
No problema.
UNM students can learn languages through the Conversation Partners program, which is restarting this semester.
Paul Edmunds, academic manager at the UNM Center for English Language and American Culture, started the Conversation Partners program in 2002, but he said it lost momentum after a couple of years. This fall he decided to start the program again and is enthusiastic about its growing popularity.
The CELAC program has about 70 students from around the world and helps them to transition into the University setting. Because they need to read, write and speak English, programs like Conversation Partners are essential, Edmunds said.
He said a CELAC student is assigned to an interested UNM student - usually based on the request to learn a certain language - and the pair can meet on campus for about an hour a week.
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They can also make their own arrangements because the program is informal and not a tutoring session, Edmunds said.
Hilaire Nakigane, a student at CELAC, came to UNM from Senegal, where the official language is French. He was paired with a UNM student eager to learn French through the program.
Nakigane said that because he wants to improve his English and his partner wants to do the same with French, the program benefits both students.
"I try to correct (my conversation partner) because speaking French is hard - the way you pronounce is not the way you write. I also asked him about some (English) grammar points," Nakigane said.
Nakigane and his partner meet once a week to practice their languages and get to know one another.
"The second time we met, we went to Golden Corral and spent three hours eating food and chatting," he said. "It's a good way to improve your speaking and listening comprehension."
Students who don't want to learn another language can stick to speaking English and still learn about a foreign student's culture.
"You have the opportunity to meet with someone who is really from Japan or Korea or Spain and are able to learn about that person's country and culture firsthand," Edmunds said. "This is a unique experience and really something very beneficial for the UNM student."
Ben Sienicki, also a part of the CELAC staff, is in charge of pairing up the conversation partners. He said he spreads the word about the program through fliers, listservs and word of mouth. Sienicki says that there is no University funding for the program.
"It's truly a grassroots effort," he said. "There is no funding in this. The partners made (the program) grow into what it has become. It's truly their creation."
Sienicki said that because of this program, students are more confident when speaking foreign languages and that many partners have even become friends. The interest in learning about each other's languages and cultures sparks a bond in many of the partners, he said.
"I know a (CELAC) student last semester who got to know the whole circle of friends of the (UNM student), and now she is going to parties, hanging out with them, and she has a network of friends," he said.
