My students in Minnesota, please
What follows is a letter I wrote to Larry Coleman, chair of the St. Paul-Changsha Sister Cities Committee. Basically, I want to bring some of my students to St. Paul this summer for intensive English study. We need money. Ideas or donations welcome. Thank you.
Hello Larry,
My name is Dan Simmons, I'm from St. Paul and I now teach at a university in Changsha, China. You can imagine my excitement when I found out, recently, that St. Paul and Changsha are sister cities! Some beneficent force put me here, as I applied to any city in China and was randomly placed in Changsha, completely unaware that my hometown is so closely connected to my Chinese "hometown."
I teach spoken English to First-year and Second-year students (ages 18-22) at Central South Forestry University. My students amaze me with their diligence -- each morning, from about 6:30 until classes begin at 8, hundreds of students are walking around campus, reading aloud from their English textbooks or listening to the BBC and Voice of America on their Walkmans.
And yet, despite their determination, their spoken English needs a lot of work. This is partly because the two languages sound so differently, and also partly because their teachers heavily emphasize writing and reading throughout their schooling. What the students need, but can't afford, is time in an English-speaking country, where they can't fall back to speaking Chinese with their fellow students, and where they're surrounded by the sounds of native English speakers.
It is my singular mission to give some of my students -- probably 5-10 -- this opportunity, and I want them to come to St. Paul. I think that the best time would be this summer, and I see that the College of St. Scholastica's St. Paul branch has something called the Global Language Institute, with one-month, intensive English programs, including homestay with a family. This program would suit my students perfectly.
I also think that St. Paul would benefit from their presence. My students are excellent ambassadors and would be very happy to give presentations about life in China, to assist people trying to learn Chinese, or to help out in other ways. In addition, most of my students will be working in international business in a matter of two to three years, and will of course remember fondly their time spent and connections made in St. Paul.
Larry, please let me know if you have ideas about helping to fund my students' visit to St. Paul. I figure, roughly, that the trip would be about $2,500-$3,000 per student, beyond the financial reach of most of them. Could we apply for grants from your organization, or from the city of St. Paul, or from businesses with a Changsha connection?
I'm a bit stumped about whom to make a pitch to, but I'm determined to make this dream a reality for my students, and I hope you can give us some ideas. When the idea takes shape, and when I announce it to my students, you will hear their shouts of joy all the way in St. Paul. First, though, I need to know where to start.
Sincerely,
Daniel Simmons
