Talk2Me: practice English or Spanish with native speakers online
On April 10, Talk2Me was launched. It is a pilot program in collaboration with The George Washington University, which focuses on collaborative learning of the English and Spanish languages through conversation.
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Due to COVID, the borders are closed, and chances of undertaking face-to-face bilateral exchanges or short-stay programs are limited at this time.
The Adjunct Office of the Vice President for International Affairs (VRAI Spanish acronym) decided to promote the idea of an online pilot program: Talk2Me
It started on April 10. Since then, our students have interacted with students from partner universities in pairs, thus promoting English and Spanish through conversation.
"The current health crisis leads us to think about new opportunities and activities for our students. To have an in-house international experience," says Belén Saavedra, Student Services Officer at VRAI.
50 is the total number of students participating in this initiative: 25 of them from our university and 25 from The George Washington University.
They hold one-hour meetings weekly where both UC and George Washington University weekly suggest topics to discuss.
Lise-Anne Strohschänk, Resident Director of The George Washington University, explains:
"Talk2Me fills an important gap with traditional study abroad off the table. The opportunity for students to practice a second language with a native speaker and improve their conversational skills. While also forging a connection with someone their age from a different culture. By transforming this key aspect of traditional study abroad into a virtual format, a wider range of students will benefit from it."
It's an ideal way:
- to prepare for a semester abroad,
- to maintain language skills after studying abroad,
- or to enrich the language learning process not just now but in a post-COVID world as well.
Along with this new initiative, the Tandem Language Exchange Program continues to operate. This program focuses on deepening previous knowledge of a language through conversation in person and practice between UC students with international exchange students that come to our university.
If you are interested in future editions of this program send an e-mail to mbsaavedra@uc.cl
