Learning a different language can be hard enough, so in an attempt to ease the learning experience, students learning Spanish can now learn from students learning English and visa versa. In the fall of 2008, a Spanish II student came to see Pamela Carlson, Educational Assistant, about finding her a native Spanish speaker to have conversations with so she could practice her new skills.

The English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and the Spanish teachers thought it great to give it a try and see if it were feasible to arrange partners for a language exchange.

So they correlated names of Spanish students with names of ESL students who had the same times available. Carlson explained they were “off and flying,” marking the beginning of Conversation Partners (CP).

“Naturally, everyone was a little nervous, but in a short time the nervousness disappeared, friendships began to develop and conversations started dribbling out and began to flow.,” Carlson said.

According to Carlson, most of the initial groups were of two or three people. They found it was better to have larger groups so if a member was unable to attend their session for some reason, the others didn’t have to lose their speaking opportunity.

With this in mind, during the second semester some groups were as large as eight. “These groups proved to be fantastic!” Carlson exclaimed.

Toward the end of last semester, the ESL and Spanish teachers arranged a tour to the Field Museum in Chicago to see the Aztec exposition. This was a conversation exchange trip that encouraged CP to go together and talk.

Toby Baker, Spanish student, said, “In Spanish class you learn more tourist Spanish and the student-to-teacher ratio is low, but in CP you learn how to personalize the Spanish to your life and everyone knows where the others are at skill wise.”

“The conversation groups have been a key factor in learning Spanish for me. Being able to speak with native speakers has improved my pronunciation and working knowledge exponentially, plus, I’ve made great friends,” said Kira Ader, Spanish student.

“Like anything that you do, your success depends on your commitment. The people who were dedicated really had fun and gained a lot during their conversations. If people were casual about the group and didn’t attend consistently, their gain was less,” Carlson said.