Cindy
Graduate School of International Culture and Communication Studies
The English Chat Club in June is really fantastic! I was a first-year student in an English-taught master’s program. However, as a non-native English speaker, I always feel nervous when interacting with my classmates and professors. Therefore I took part in the English Chat Club, which helped me speak out without getting nervous.
The English Chat Club provides everyone an equal chance to speak and an inclusive communication environment. Every time one of us is speaking, no one interrupts even when the person speaking can’t think of how to express a phenomenon for a moment. In particular, I appreciated that the Supporter sometimes asked some questions and encouraged us to speak more when noticing that someone was quiet for a little while. Thus I think the English Chat Club really provides non-native speakers a valuable opportunity to jump out of their comfort zone and become talkative when speaking English.
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- photos by the ICC
The English Chat Club is also a great place for cross-cultural communication. Every week in June, we talked about different topics regarding cuisine, tourist spots, our learning experience, and our experience in Japan, sometimes accompanied with a game, making the whole process easy, happy, and immersive. Given that every group is diverse and consists of students from different cultures, the English Chat Club is not only a place to express ourselves but also provides an opportunity to listen to people from different cultures, thinking, and understanding from different perspective.
Overall, I love the English Chat Club for its inclusivity and diversity. I became more talkative when speaking in English and desired more chances to speak! I would strongly recommend students who are shy when speaking English to take part in it, and I believe that you’ll make progress here.
