Summer volunteers needed to chat with international students

Western Washington University’s Intensive English Program is looking for conversation partners to work with international students this summer. Serving as a conversation partner is an incredible opportunity, allowing you to broaden your cultural experience and make friends from around the world.

International students in IEP are matched one-on-one with a local resident to assist them in practicing their conversational English skills and to help them explore the Bellingham community. This summer, IEP will welcome students from Brazil, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Kuwait and Vietnam.

Faculty, staff, students and members of the community are all eligible to volunteer. Conversation partners must attend a brief training and meet six times during the quarter with their IEP student. Meetings are determined by the pair and can range from conversations to sharing a meal to exploring Bellingham or just getting together to have fun.

If eligible, Western staff can utilize their community service hours as a conversation partner.

Applications for summer conversation partners are available online and must be submitted by Monday, July 6. Questions about the program can be directed to iep.conversation@wwu.edu.

For more information about Western’s Intensive English Program, please visit http://www.wwu.edu/iep.