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Inter-link: foreign students learn "The American Way"
By Julie Seaman
When many of us think of going
to a foreign country, we think of
seeing historical sites, tasting
new food and investigating the
pace of life of the people who live
there, including talking with
them as much as possible. But
we don't enroll in a French or
German school and devote at
least 8 or 9 hours a day to
studying the language. Essen
tially, we think of touring the
country, and then returning
home.
There are 56 foreign students
here on campus, however, who
have committed themselves to
not only exploring our society,
but to joining it. The students in
the Inter-Link program came to
Guilford to get to know
Americans and to become skilled
enough in English to enroll in a
regular cirriculum program at
an American college. In a sense,
they are "starting over" with a
whole new culture and language.
The Inter-Link students are not
"just looking."
Inter-Link Associates has
programs to help business
become established overseas as
well as educational programs
like the one at Guilford. When
they decided to open a language
and training center, they sear
ched the southeast and Guilford
stood out.
Mr. Ahad Shabaz, Inter-Link
program director, explained that
Guilford and Inter-Link had a
shared philosophy of tolerance
and attempting to understand
other cultures and religions. ''We
call ourselves peace loving but
we're not Quakers," said Mr.
Shabaz, who worked for the
Peace Corps for seven years
before joining Inter-Link. His
idealism lingers from those
years. He speaks with some
feeling about how the world's
nations have become too inter
dependent to act independently.
Inter-Link is a profit-making
organization ("But so far we
have no profits," says Mr.
Shabaz), and they pay Guilford
for use of the facilities here.
The assumption that Inter-Link
students are all wealthy is not
true. About one-third are "upper
class," and the rest either have
government scholarships or
parents who are scraping and
struggling to send them to an
American school. Some of the
students have already been to one
or more years of college in their
native country, and are
preparing to be accepted at a
U.S. graduate school. The others
are fresh out of high school.
A typical day in the life of an
Inter-Link student includes
English classes for five hours.
Along with the regular writing
and conversation practice, they
also learn survival skills which
we take for granted, such as how
to order a phone, act in a dorm, or
find a college. The English
ability levels vary among
students; some foreign students
come to the program knowing
only half a dozen words, and
others know English fairly well.
Passing the TOEFL is the
main goal for all the students.
"They really sweat over that,"
said Sue Siler, administrative
assistant to the Inter-Link
program on campus. TheToefle is
an English proficiency stan
dardized test that foreign
students are required to pass in
order to be admitted to a U.S.
college.
Naturally, the students in the
Inter-Link program here have a
strong common bond with each
other so they tend to move in
groups from class to cafeteria to
library. But the foreign students
seem to be very willing and eager
to become friends with American
students. That should go without
saying, but there is a tendency in
all of us to avoid people who are
different. It's easy to think,
"Well, they wouldn't want to talk
to me", as one passes by a group
or even a lone foreign student.
On the contrary, most Inter-Link
students are enthusiastic about
interacting with American
students.
What are the Inter-Link
students like? How do they feel
about Guilford? What is so in
teresting about them? Fabienne
Dautricourt has some very
flattering things to say about
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photo by Randy Rosenthal
Americans. She's from the
Dutch-speaking part of Belgium,
and she says, "I could have gone
to England to learn English, but I
don't like England because of the
people there. They are not close
and friendly, they want to stay in
their own groups; they won't
share their experiences with
other people. I think Americans
are completely different."
Fabienne unabashedly said
that people matter most to her,
and when asked what she likes to
do in her free time, she thought a
moment and said, with certainty:
"I like everything that's in
relation to seeing people!" As of
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now, Fabienne has mostly made
friends with other Inter-Link
students. "I really like the Inter-
Link program because you have
the opportunity to not only meet
new people, but people from all
over the world." Fabienne is
just starting college, but she
thinks about working with deaf
children, or studying art at an
academy.
Gesturing with a stuffed
"snoopy" in one hand and a
stuffed penguin in the other,
Anibal Rodriguez spoke in a
relaxed manner. Rodriguez is
from Venezuela, where he's
already been to college, and he
studied there to prepare for
aeronautical engineering. He
mentioned that political
problems often cause the schools
to be closed at irregular times,
and a lot of class is missed during
the semester. When asked if
there was anything about
Guilford that had annoyed him,
he said, "Ah...no, nothing", as if
the subject wasn't even worth
discussing. But he doesn't like
the idea of having to pay when
you go to a party. He talked
about the kind of hospitality he
was used to at the University of
Venezuela; "I would buy the
food, all kinds of drinks
gin,rum,beer-and invite all my
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Guilfordian, October 1, 1981
friends and not have them pay."
To the surprised pleasure of his
friends in America, Anibal oc
cassionally carries on the custom
of his country through treating
them out to a disco.
It also seems that in Venezuela
the men are more polite towards
the women. "Sometimes in the
cafeteria, a girl will go to open
the door, and the guy won't care
about opening it for her," he said.
Watanabe missed passing the
TOEFL exam by only 4 points in
Japan, so he came to the Inter-
Link program at Guilford and
plans to enroll at another Friends
school, Earlham, for his last
semester. Then he'll go into the
banking business with his
grandfather (Why aren't
Americans close with their
grandparents?" he asked, and
explained that he lived in a large
apartment in Tokyo with his
grandparents, parents, and
uncle.)
Most of us at Guilford are
similar to each other in
background, social class, and
outlook. Talking with the Inter-
Link students is a reminder that
the way we do things isn't the
only way there is. Having them
here is also a compliment. They
have left their native countries
and rearranged their lives to link
with us.
photo by Randy Rosenthal