When Yao Tang came to Charlottesville from China to pursue a doctorate in nursing at the University of Virginia, her English language course was what first made her feel at home.
Yao Tang built community and confidence in last year’s programming and she’s working to help others do the same. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
“It provided me with a good transition and gave me a valuable chance to make cross-cultural friendships,” she said. “Even after the program, my new friends and I gathered at each other’s houses to make dumplings, drink Chinese tea and share our cultures with each other.”
After completing the first year of her doctorate program, she returned to UVA’s English for Academic Purposes program for a second summer, this time as an instructional assistant. The intensive language and culture course supports non-native English speaking students admitted to undergraduate or graduate degree programs at UVA.
She is helping others adapt to the American academic environment as she continues to do so herself.
“I would say the cultural barriers are even more challenging than the linguistic ones, and I want to give back to this community by sharing some ideas about how I adapted and learned,” Yao said.
She said some of the most helpful lessons she learned, like finding a good coffee shop or navigating grocery stores, might seem inconsequential to some.
Janay Crabtree has been running the program she calls “a soft landing for international students” for 14 years.
It’s a monthlong intensive language course for second-language learners. Incoming students have the opportunity to practice English in a classroom four days a week, with Wednesdays reserved for activities or field trips.
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