Conversation Partner Program

Welcome!  We pair ESL students with native (or native-level) English speakers, and they meet once a week for an hour to talk and get to know each other.

By participating in this program, you'll have a chance to practice communicating with people of different languages and social backgrounds than your own. This will help you take a step towards becoming more globally aware and culturally competent.

You might wonder why that is important. An easy way to find an answer is to visit South Lake Union during lunchtime. Just look around and listen to the Amazon employees. Or go to Bellevue and Redmond to hear the different languages spoken by people who work at Microsoft.

You can also visit the University District in Seattle and see the incredibly diverse future of America’s workforce. Some of these people may one day be your co-workers, managers, or employees. They come not only from the U.S., but from countries around the world. If you go to other countries, you will find that the situation is much the same: Ethiopians, Koreans, Australians, Italians, Brazilians, and Americans all working side-by-side.

If you want to succeed in the new global workforce, you should know how to relate to all different kinds of people. The Conversation Partner program aims to help you develop this ability.