Comments on: English practice for ESL students in Northern Virginia?

Question: English practice for ESL students in Northern Virginia?

ambrosia — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 11:27:49 -0800

ESL-filter: Where can a fairly advanced ESL student practice her English for free?

My sister-in-law teaches ESL classes in Arlington, Virginia. She has a Thai student who is pretty advanced and is looking for a safe place to practice her English face-to-face with another person. Her local library has a conversation practice group weekday evenings but she can't make that because it conflicts with her work schedule. She does have free time weekday mornings, however.

What other places might an ESL student get some English practice in for free? Are there volunteer opportunities that would get her some English practice while she volunteers?

By: rkent

rkent — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:36:11 -0800

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, but wouldn't almost any volunteer opportunity allow for substantial interaction with other people and therefore language practice? Volunteer positions don't tend to be solitary manual labor. Just off the top of my head, maybe volunteering at a food bank or soup kitchen would work. Those have been very social environments when I've volunteered in that context.

By: mdonley

mdonley — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:38:27 -0800

Volunteering at the library.

By: amtho

amtho — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:47:41 -0800

I've found pen pals and potential phone conversation partners through this MyLanguageExchange site. You do have to sign up for an inexpensive account to send people requests/messages, but it's free to search in your area. She could find someone who wanted to practice Thai (maybe) in exchange for her practicing English with them.

By: amtho

amtho — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:50:33 -0800

Here are two native English speakers who want to practice Thai in Arlington, VA.

By: martinX's bellbottoms

martinX's bellbottoms — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:45:39 -0800

The Toastmasters in Annandale has a number of non native English speakers.