Epal exchange program,2008

Frequently Asked Questions(Q&A)

Q. What is the Language Exchange Program?
A. Participants in the Language Exchange Program are matched with a student who speaks the language you are learning for one hour of language exchange per week.This year 32 students from Guangxi Uni of Technology (GXUT) in China and XX students from Patrict Henry High School (PHHS) in San Diego participate in the exchange program.

Q. What are the benefits of language exchange?
A. There are many benefits to participating in the language exchange program including, improving language skills, making new friends, learning slang/informal language, helping people, making contacts for possible future visits overseas and increasing your cultural knowledge and confidence.

“It is giving me more courage and confidence to speak out loud…I have learnt a lot about American English and culture through my epal and hope maybe to even meet her if I take a cultural exchange program in later years.” ( Tong Min in Yaodong's class in 2004)

“I really enjoy the program as I would not know, meet or make any Amerian acquaintances without this program pairing us together. Thank you.” (Li Ping in Yaodong's class in 2003)

"Not only you get to learn more about the language you also make a new friend for life!!!" (Fei Yue in Yaodong's class in 2007)

Q. What if I am not fluent in my foreign language? Can I still apply for language exchange?
A. As long as you can have access to the Interent,you can join the program.

Q. What are the most popular languages for language exchange?
A. For the time being,we focus on English and Mandarin Chinese only.

Q. What if I would like to practise my Japanese?
A. You can join in the 'Student Talk' forum and interact with Japanese students there by posting articles on the column.

Q. How much time would I spend speaking English?
A. We suggest that you spend 50% of the time speaking each language during your weekly one-hour session. We find that beginners tend to spend more time speaking English. As time goes on your conversational skills and confidence will begin to improve. Try and speak in your second language as much as you can and eventually you will be speaking fluently.

Q. How can I make the most of my Language Exchange time?
A. There are many things you can do to make the most of your language exchange including preparing conversation topics in advance, getting to know your partners interests and hobbies, being reliable and having fun.

"Try and speak the foreign language as much as possible-don’t worry about making mistakes, just keep practicing and soon you will learn to see the mistakes yourself." (Huang Wensheng,Yaodong's student in 2004)

Q. Will there be opportunities to meet other international students who speak the language I am studying?
A. Yes, very likely. In the summer of 2007,16 US students including post graduates and doctoral students from Vanderbuilt Univ came to Liuzhou for two months for their summer field school program.Chinese students had a great time with their guests.

Q. Who will I be matched with?
A. Your partner will be a student from San Diego,USA,who speaks the language you are studying as their first language. Where possible we will match you according to your faculty, interests, availability, gender and age. All San Diego students are 2 or 3 years younger than their Chinese epals but they all enjoy communicating with Chinese students in the hope that they will understand Chinese culture better and develop their communication skills through language exchange.

“My language partner is easy-going, friendly and an interesting person." (Mo Yuwen,yaodong's student in 2006)

Q. How and where can I meet my partner?
A. Once you are matched with a partner we will email your contact details to your partner and vice versa. You then contact your partner to arrange the initial meeting. We recommend that you meet on the discussion board of epals.com .

Q. What sort of things do Language Exchange Partners usually talk about?
A. There are many different conversation topics. The most popular ones are shopping, travel, culture, study, careers, hobbies, interests, family, music, books, media, news, slang, colloquialisms and expressions.

"We discuss everything, from the work that we are doing in classes to our family and personal relationships. I really enjoy talking about our impressions of people and the differences in personalities and social interactions between Japanese and Australian people." (Zhang Hua,yaodong's student in 2005)

Q. What if I there is a week that I cannot meet my partner?
A. You should let your partner know and make alternative arrangements. Some students use MSN,Skype or Yahoo messenger to get in contact with their partner when they find emailing is not good enough for the interaction online.

Q. What if I am unhappy with my partner, they don’t return my emails or they are too busy to meet me online?
A. Drop Yaodong or Candance a note and they can try to solve the problems for you.

Q. How can I join the Language Exchange Program?
A. Anyone is eligible for the program if he/she read and writes in English.Simply email or tell your teacher in person and they will apply for your an account free of charge.