By Anastasiia
GSICCS
I happened to sign up for facilitating at the English Chat Club event without thinking too much of it. It was my first semester at GSICCS and I was looking for an opportunity to meet new people to reduce “new-step-in-my-life anxiety”. Spoiler alert, I did find new connections and explored the university culture. Although, becoming a facilitator was spurt of a moment thing, I am grateful that I was able to take part in this event.
As a non-native English speaker myself, I know how hard it is to actually start speaking a foreign language, regardless for how long you have been learning it. Only by escaping my comfort zone and immersing myself into English-speaking environment I managed to start communicating in English and after that I wanted to make this process smoother for other people as well, and as a result, I signed for this event. Indeed, English Chat Club created such an environment where everyone could communicate in English without anxiety or pressure.
One of the merits of this event would be the fact that the participants were divided into several groups led by one or two facilitators. One session included two activities: ice-breaker and the main activity which was usually a game. Though the event flow was simple, small groups guaranteed that each participant could actively participate in the conversation. If someone got stuck, facilitators like me would provide advice or feedback to keep the conversation going. In my experience, although I was the facilitator, the fellow members gave answers or advice faster than I could do that, and you could really feel that everyone was super willing to help each other. Plus, if I were to compare it to other Language Exchange Events where the main activity was usually “free talk” where you discussed each other’s experience and opinions, English Chat Club provided us with games and materials prepared in advance, so you would not worry about having nothing to talk about or having less fun than you had expected because of unexpected pauses or silence.
Another merit of the event, as I described earlier, was the opportunity to make connections. There were lots of people from different countries, academic background, who had different English level. I learned a lot from this exchange and despite the diversity everyone seemed to be able to talk with each other without any issues or constraints. If you were struggling there was always someone to help you. Even when I struggled to explain game rules, I got help from a native speaker from my group (if you are reading this, thank you a lot btw).
To sum up, whether you just want to chat, meet new people, increase your English level or help other people do it, be sure that you are very welcomed and regardless of your goal you are very likely to have a good time in a warm community.
photo by ICC
