158 shares SHARE TWEET SMS SEND EMAIL Starting college can be scary — everything is new, you don’t know anyone. But imagine what it would be like if you didn’t speak English? The University of Missouri is here to help with its Language Partners program, one of several English programs offered at the school, which pairs native and non-native English-speaking students on campus. Khalilah Henderson is a graduate assistant with MU’s Women’s Center and the coordinator of the program. “It’s definitely targeted to help international students, just to make them feel more comfortable and accepted on campus, because there aren’t a lot of resources and services to help them,” says Henderson. Amjad Hasan is one of the international students in the Language Partners program. He came to the U.S. from Baghdad in December of 2013, and studies electrical engineering as a graduate student. He says his English has improved since finding the program. “I found it accidentally,” says Hasan. “One time I lostmy way downtown (my first week in Columbia). So I found somebody to help me, and she was like the manager at that time for the (language partners program) in the women’s center, and she said she would send me the website for the program so that I could get a partner.” Amjad (front) and Seth (back) are seen here skiing in Minnesota during one of the trips they took together. While the two began as language partners, the friendship is obvious. (Photo courtesy Amjad Hasan.) Though he can now carry on conversations in English with few problems, Hasan insists that the improvement took lots of practice. “When I came to the United States …. my English was very, very, very poor and bad,” he says. Hasan first met language partner Seth Boeke through the Chi Alpha house and he no longer considers Seth just a partner. “Now he’s my best friend, to be honest. Seth … I was lucky to meet him,” says Hasan. “We had fun … I travelled to his house … I tried his food, American food, he tried my traditionalfood. So now I cannot say he’s my partner, but I can say he’s my friend. My best friend.” Andrew Wilhite is a senior at MU, and has been language partners with Yu Zhang since January 2015. Wilhite studied abroad in Spain during the fall 2015 semester, and understands how helpful having a language partner can be. “I was in a language-intensive program (and) spoke Spanish constantly,” he says, which included living with a Spanish family and working in a marketing firm. “Through all that, I had somebody there to really help me learn the language; help me understand … I had somebody there for me and it made my time better.” Zhang, a visiting scholar from Beijing, joined the language partners program at the suggestion of a colleague. “I think that language partner (program) is a very good project to improve exchanging between different cultures,” says Zhang. Andrew (left) and Yu (right) often meet in the MU Student Center to talk about their days or other topics they are both interested in.The pair have been meeting since Jan. 2015 through the Language Partners program. (Photo: Sarah Sabatke.) is a University of Missouri student and a USA TODAY College correspondent. , , , , 158 shares SHARE TWEET SMS SEND EMAIL Related Stories Comments