International Students Compete for Prizes in the Institute for English Language Programs

With families, friends, instructors, and Extension School staff gathered in the Grossman Common Room, IEL student winners celebrate their success at a reception at the end of each semester. In the photo at right, Yuko Hoshino receives her prize from Dean Michael Shinagel and IEL Program Administrator Lilith Haynes.

In 1988, Dean Michael Shinagel established a fund in memory of his parents, Emanuel and Lilly Shinagel, who immigrated from Europe in 1941 and learned English as their second--and third--language through evening classes in New York City. Grand prizes of $200 toward an Extension School course and honorable mention book awards are presented each term to students at all levels of instruction from beginning to high advanced in the Institute for English Language Programs (IEL). The prizes are based on student-written essays.

The prizewinners in 1995 came from 20 countries, with the Americas represented by students from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, and Venezuela; Asia represented by students from China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea; and Europe represented by students from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Essays are judged on persuasiveness, clarity, conviction, and control of the mechanics of the English language in addressing four major topics: the meaning that studying English in the Extension School has had in the student's life; the most vivid memory in this experience; the student's language-learning style; and the uses to which the student plans to put the new knowledge of the language.

Carmen Tejerizo, a student in the fall semester beginning Integrated Skills course, received a grand prize for her essay. Recalling her first weeks in Boston after arriving from Spain, she wrote, "At the beginning, Carmen spent time visiting many places and thinking how she needed to learn English. When she arrived, she only knew three words: thanks, good morning, and good-bye. Three weeks later, she learned just three phrases: have a nice day, the best lobster, and x% off. 'Well, this is not enough,' she thought. She met people in Boston but could never understand the jokes that made them smile or the reason for their discussions. She loves movies but not if she cannot follow the story. The hot water is not working in her apartment, but how can she explain it to her landlord? To live in a country without speaking its language is not to live."

Last spring Wah Ying, a student in the Integrated Skills course at the beginning level, received a grand prize for her essay. She wrote, "My son said to me when he came back to Hong Kong from America: 'Mom, you're too tired! Put down your work, close the business. Leave Hong Kong. Leave the sad place. Forget the sad memories. You must rest. You may go to do the work you like; to learn the things you like. You may go to Boston; it is a beautiful and peaceful city. You may go to Harvard University to study something. I am sure you can find a new life there.' So I came to Boston and attended this class. This is a new beginning in my lifetime."

"One day when I was in my first month of classes, one of my American friends was telling me about another friend, Alfonso, who was sick," wrote Irma Mondragon, a grand prize winner from Mexico at the high intermediate level in Listening and Speaking, Integrated Skills, and Academic Writing. "He told me something about him having 'chicken pox' and that he was in the hospital. I thought that perhaps he was sick because he had eaten a lot of bad chicken. After that I called him and asked him about his illness, so after I finally understood what Alfonso had, I felt frustrated and I started working harder on my listening and comprehension skills. . . . Fall came and it was unique because I had never seen such beautiful scenery. Not only did the weather change, but also my experiences were different. My English had improved a lot, and my teachers were concentrating strongly on my writing skills. My vocabulary had improved, thanks to the benefits of the oral presentations I had to give to my classmates. I felt more comfortable and secure with my English."

A grand prize winner at the high advanced level in Advanced Academic Listening and Speaking last spring, Yuko Hoshino wrote: "It was hard during a telephone conversation to understand and be understood. Especially memorable was the time I wanted to apply for a frequent flyer program. I gathered up all my courage and called American Airlines. I tried to explain to the airline representative that I wanted to become a member of their mileage program. He said something very fast which I could not understand at all. I said, 'Excuse me?' and he then repeated himself. Unfortunately, I still could not understand what he said. I requested, 'Please say it slowly.' He repeated himself once again, but I still could not catch his words. After asking him three times to repeat, I felt so embarrassed about my incompetence that I hesitated to ask him to repeat himself a fourth time. Instead I tried very hard to guess what he had said. I said to myself, 'He must have asked which airline mileage program I am applying for.' (Somehow, I thought that there were agencies out there to handle frequent flyer programs for every airline.) So, I told him, 'American Airline.' Then it was his turn to say, 'Excuse me?' I thought that my pronunciation was not correct. I articulated 'American Airline' as clearly as possible. However, he kept asking. After several attempts to communicate for both of us, there was a dead silence. Then the voice on the other side became alarmingly serious. He said, 'Ma'am, I think I should ask you once again.' He cleared his throat. 'Is your last name really American Airline?'"

"No matter who you are, or what your native language is, when you master a new language, you learn a new way of thinking as well," wrote Denes Barizca, a grand prize winner from Hungary in the Integrated Skills course at the high advanced level. "It comes with the package. . . . When I talk to another person and try to explain something, I have a thought, a picture in my mind. I want him to see the same picture. If he is Hungarian, I use Hungarian words to paint my picture in his mind, as a painter uses a brush. If he is American, my brush is made of English words. For an American, though, I would paint in a different style--slightly different composition, special colors. The biggest challenge in acquiring a new language is not to learn how to use the new brush but how to paint in a new style."