College is not easy, especially for those of us who have English as a second language.
I am an international student, and I am graduating on Saturday, Dec. 14, with a degree in Public Relations. I wanted to share some ideas to help other international students do well at UTM.
- Leave your existing circle of friends. I know when you come to UTM, you will feel alone. I know that feeling, but that does not mean you need to find friends who speak the same language as you. You need to find American friends and talk to them. Maybe they cannot understand, but you can try to talk to them. That can improve your English and faster understanding of American culture.
- Go talk to your professor about your class or homework. Ask your professor questions and make sure you understand everything.
- Join any non-international clubs. Only by letting international students know more about organizations can they better understand these organizations and integrate into American life. By understanding more organizations, international students choose the organizations they want to join, understand more about American culture and integrate into American life.
- Make a reasonable work-rest plan, which must match the difficulty of your curriculum.
- Learn to cook your favorite foods, because you may not like how places here cook your foods.
- Take notes every day of new words and try to put them in sentences.
- Don’t be afraid to talk to anyone and use English whenever you can.
- Don’t worry about your accent; you only do better when you practice more.
- Listen to the radio shows and watch TV, and try to repeat what they say.
- Do a lesson every day; you can either buy a book or do it online.
- Talking is the most important step to learn grammar.
- Play crossword puzzles. Americans love this game.
