Speaking English: The power of one-on-one conversation

Kyounghee Lee and Nancy Chen are English conversation partners.

The library offers an English Conversation Partner program to give language learners a chance to speak and listen in a casual setting. Students are matched with volunteers for an hour of online conversation, up to twice a month.

Since last fall, learner Kyounghee Lee and volunteer Nancy Chen have been meeting regularly on Zoom. Lee, whose first language is Korean, wanted to keep practicing English. “Since the pandemic started, it was hard for me to find chances to interact with people outside [my home],” said Lee.

Chen has been volunteering at English as a second language (ESL) classes for 11 years, seven of them at Vernon Area Public Library. She describes the conversations as an extension of the classes. Learners “can ask any questions, ask us to repeat or slow down, or explain American traditions,” explained Chen. “They can have conversations tailored to what they want to talk about, while listening to the native English speaker’s pronunciation and cadence.”

When Lee and Chen connect online, they discuss whatever comes to mind — “family, cultural traditions, health, good restaurants, movies, life during the pandemic!” said Chen. Lee, too, enjoys chatting about “anything and everything” including life in the United States, her previous job, current hobbies, and topics related to Korea. 

“We take speaking English for granted, with all its irregular verbs (is, are, was, were) and its idioms (cold turkey, cat got your tongue),” said Chen. “What you give by just speaking English is a gift to others who are in a new country, away from their family and friends, trying to navigate American culture and English.”

“We are all stronger if we are willing and able to help others in our community. When my great grandparents arrived in the U.S. from China in the 1880s, I wish they were able to be supported by a community like the library’s ESL program,” said Chen. “I volunteer in their honor, to ease the path for other recent immigrants.”

From Lee’s perspective, the program is “a good opportunity to improve English communication skills, meet people in the community, and learn more about life and culture of America and other countries.” She has found that the conversations give more benefits than expected. “It served as a great source of emotional support during the pandemic. Whenever meeting the partners online, I feel that I am not alone...that we are in the same shoes, cheering up each other.”

To request a conversation partner or find out more about this program, visit VAPLD.info/LearnEnglish.

This article appeared in the fall edition of the Library Quarterly.