GSU’s CIRCLE Room, located at 128 Langdale, was packed on October 1st, where over 70 students and staff showed up to socialize and share about their respective languages and cultures. Hosted by GSU’s Intensive English Program (IEP) and supported by CIRCLE (The Center for International Resources & Collaborative Language Engagement) the event was packed from 2:15 to 3:15, so much so that more pizza had to be ordered for the giant turnout. Even after the event ended, people stayed around to continue making friends with those with the same language interests.
Considering a language and culture’s ability to bring together people, the IEP, CIRCLE, as well as CULTR, and the WLC department decided that an amazing way to unite GSU’s diverse crowd of students was to host a social event dependent on sharing language. The IEP’s own Sharon Santmyer, who specializes in ESL and EFL across the world, led the event and encouraged students and staff to divide into groups based on languages they either knew or wanted to know. That way, students who wanted to learn a language could practice with native speakers of their chosen language, and those non-native English speakers could also practice their English if desired. Language groups included Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and more! Overall, the Conversation Partner Meetup was a huge success in bringing different types of people together, highlighting GSU’s strong sense of community, kindness, and love of languages.
There is no doubt that there will be another event like this, most likely in November. Keep an eye out on social media for the IEP and CIRCLE’s next Conversation Partner meetup so you don’t miss it!
To learn more about the Department of World Languages & Cultures
