English 中文网 漫画网 爱新闻iNews 翻译论坛
中国网站品牌栏目(频道)
当前位置: Language Tips > Special Speed News VOA慢速

Making friends not always easy for foreign students

[ 2012-08-17 17:32]     字号 [] [] []  
免费订阅30天China Daily双语新闻手机报:移动用户编辑短信CD至106580009009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A recent story in the Chronicle of Higher Education said many foreign students report feeling lonely or unwelcome in Australia. Those feelings are among the reasons why Australia is taking a close look at its international education industry. The government has formed an advisory council to help develop a five-year national strategy for the future of international education in Australia.

Making friends not always easy for foreign students

But wherever international students go, making friends may not always be easy. The Journal of International and Intercultural Communication recently published a study done in the United States.

Elisabeth Gareis of Baruch College in New York surveyed 454 international students. They were attending four-year colleges and graduate schools in the American South and Northeast.

Students from English-speaking countries and from northern and central Europe were more likely to be happy with their friendships. But 38 percent of the international students said they had no close friends in the United States.

And half of the students from East Asia said they were unhappy with the number of American friends they had. Professor Gareis says 30 percent said they wished their friendships could be deeper and more meaningful.

ELISABETH GAREIS: "Students from East Asia have cultures that are different on many levels from the culture in the United States. But then there's also language problems, and maybe some social skills, such as small talk, that are possibly not as important in their native countries, where it's not as important toinitiate friendships with small talk."

She says many East Asian students blamed themselves for their limited friendships with Americans.

ELISABETH GAREIS: "The vast majority blames themselves, actually for not speaking the language well enough, for not knowing the culture well enough. And there were also some comments about the college environment, like many of them were in the natural sciences or worked in labs where they were surrounded by other East Asians."

VOA's Student Union blogger Jessica Stahl did her own survey to find out how American students and foreign students relate to each other. More than 100 students, about half of them American, answered her online questions.

Half of the international students and 60 percent of the Americans said they related as well or better to the other group than to their own group.

Professor Gareis says students who make friends from their host country return home happier with their experience.

ELISABETH GAREIS: "International students who make friends with host nationals are, overall, more satisfied with their stay in the host country. They have better language skills, they have better academic performance and they have better attitudes toward the host country."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Jim Tedder.

advisory council: 咨询委员会

initiate: 开始(某事物)

Related stories:

英国大学“郁闷” 学生远走美国

Want to be a foreign exchange student?

中国人取英文名时仍显“老外”

Studying in the US: Where to live?

(来源:VOA 编辑:实习生朱眉霖)

 
中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
 

关注和订阅

人气排行

翻译服务

中国日报网翻译工作室

我们提供:媒体、文化、财经法律等专业领域的中英互译服务
电话:010-84883468
邮件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn