Four students in the Intensive ESL program at the Monterey Institute are taking a broad view of language learning by volunteering to teach beginner courses in their native languages at the same time they are working to improve their own English language skills.
“I believe that it will be very helpful to us in our studies,” says Pablo Mezquita from Spain, who enrolled in the Intensive ESL program to prepare for a graduate degree program in international business law in the United States. He, along with Ayumi Kawano of Japan, Gin Wang of Taiwan, and Guldana Khamzina of Kazakhstan, have volunteered to be a part of the B.U.I.L.D (Beyond YoUrself in Language Development) student club on campus and offer free language lessons in their native Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian.
Ayumi has aspirations to become a language teacher and would love to enroll in the Teaching a Foreign Language program at MIIS. She thinks she might imitate some of the techniques her English teachers use in her Japanese class. Guldana would like to study international policy, preferably at MIIS, but Gin has not quite made up her mind about what direction to take her studies. Fluency in English at a high level is an important factor in each of their future career dreams.
The four have varied opinions about the mild coastal weather in Monterey, but all agree that it is an exceptionally good place to make new friends. The language classes and participation in student club activities they say, is a great way to meet even more people.
All B.U.I.L.D. classes are listed on the Monterey Institute events calendar.