The Conversation Café : Left to right, front row: Jiahui Lu, Beixi Li, Ting Lv, Qian Wu, Jonathan Sorocki; Left to right, back row: Luqin Wang, Yifan Wu, Lexie Bryan, Holly Halmo, Ting Wen, Yiqing Zhang, Bo Peng, Yin Chen
College students are utilizing social networks like Facebook.com and MySpace to meet new people, catch up with old friends and, of course, procrastinate. So why not take this new medium to the next level and make it a place for education as well?
Holly Halmo, a Writing Consultant at the Polytechnic Tutoring Center (PTC), has found a way to make online social networking advantageous to Poly’s ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) student population. With her creation of the “Conversation Café” social network, students can now log on and be connected to other students, chat about language issues and practice their colloquial English all at the same time. Merging the needs of ESOL students with the technology that they are already interested in and utilizing, the PTC is using Web2.0 as an educational tool for our students. The virtual Conversation Café is not just a language resource, but also a forum to debate political and cultural issues, learn new vocabulary and how to express complex ideas in English. For example, there are current discussions taking place on the site about differing healthcare practices in China and America and ways to convey respect to your parents in English.
The PTC, located in JAB 373, is well known for its free, open tutoring available to all Poly students in an array of subjects — from Physics to CS to writing. However, many may not know about the conversational English help offered by the PTC under the umbrella of its Writing Center.
Conversation Groups, small groups of students led by a Writing Consultant, meet weekly for an hour to discuss interesting topics, debate current events and take small trips while they practice conversational English, colloquialisms and pronunciation. On Friday afternoons from 4-5:30 the actual Conversation Café is held, where students can drop by to engage in a fun, informal conversation over coffee and treats. Topics of discussion range from social “ice-breaker” activities, cultural differences and playing conversation-focused games, but the overarching goal is to have some fun with a new language.
Feel free to visit and join the network!
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