After reading about Ohio University while living near Nagoya, Japan, Masahiro Osumi decided to make the trip overseas to learn English.
But after arriving on campus, the transition proved more difficult than he anticipated.
When Osumi, 20, came to OU for the first time, he barely spoke any English. The language barrier prevented communication with other students.
“In Japan, there are (a) majority of Japanese and a small amount of foreigners,” Osumi said. “There were no learning opportunities to use English.”
Almost 820,000 international students studied in the United States during the 2012-13 academic year, according to the Pew Research Center. That is a 40 percent increase from the 2002-03 academic year.
Because some of those students speak little to no English upon arriving in the United States, OU offers a program to help. The Ohio Program of Intensive English, in existence since 1967, teaches international students English from first principles.
It is the first university-based intensive English program in the state of Ohio. Tuition for the program is $5,490 per semester, and students who are enrolled in the program are also able to receive financial assistance. International students are required to purchase student health insurance from OU, costing $892 a semester.
“The OPIE is open to international students who have completed high school successfully,” said Gerard Krzic, director of the OPIE program, in an email.
Osumi currently studies in the OPIE and attends classes four times a week while practicing English in and outside the classroom. Even after class, Osumi looks to find additional experiences to practice English.
“I try to be with Americans or native speakers,” Osumi said. “If I’m with someone who has (a) different nationality, I have to use English. It’s one of the ways I practice.”
Despite having “fears” of making mistakes, Osumi still practices a language very different from his native Japanese.
“Gradually, I’ll get better in speaking in front of people,” he said. “It just takes time.”
Of the OPIE’s students, 90 percent have committed to studying at OU after completing the program, and 10 percent are only there to improve their English skills, Krzic said.
Countries from South America to Asia are represented in the classroom, including China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
“The program has grown to about 435 students in the last six years,” Krzic said. “Our retention rate is about 85 to 90 percent.”
The program sponsors programs outside the classroom for its students, including film clubs, socials and conversation hours, which are designed to help students practice English as often as possible.
Despite the program’s outreach efforts, some OU students are not impressed with attempts to get international students to interact with native English-speaking students on campus.
“Usually, when I see foreign students, they are only with other foreign students and rarely speak English with anyone,” said Nick Lock, a senior studying political science. “I believe it is also the (OU) students’ responsibility to reach out to them and get to know them.”
Osumi said even though he is receiving instruction as well as additional experiences, he hasn’t forgotten what it was like to be “lost,” and he will be returning home at the end of the 2013-14 academic year.
“I want to use these (English) skills in Japan because many Japanese cannot speak English,” he said. “In Japan, speaking English is one of the advantages to get jobs and work in a company.”
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