HELPS U:Connect Volunteer Programs

[MaryAnn] So the HELPSMates Buddy program is designed to connect international students with UTS staff and students, to help them develop their conversation skills.         

[Marie] I think that UTS has a lot of very great places to meet.

[Chris] We’ve been meeting for two semesters now.

[Divya] I was really really happy that she was a Ph.D. student, cause we’re both doing research.

[Chris] Sometimes we talk about food.

[Bronte] We do a lot of comparisons with our cultures.

[Chris] Other times we just talk about what we’ve been doing during the week.

[Andrew] We stated the HELPSMates Buddy program because students, especially international students, were coming into HELPS and telling us they weren’t getting the opportunity to meet with or talk with other students to practise their English.

[Marie] I wanted to have an occasion to talk with Australian people, with somebody who would make some correction about what I say.

[Yuzhen] I make lots of mistake about my grammar                   

[MaryAnn] For the international students, the benefits are that you will develop your language skills, your pronunciation, grammar, fluency, you’ll make friends. You’ll get to know a lot more about how things are done the Australian way.

[Marie] I remember what my buddy told me, so that means that and that. And also it gave me confidence to go to people and to introduce conversation.

[Phuong] In the future I will be more confident when making a speech, yeah, maybe interview for job, for looking for job.

[Imam] You have to be really relaxed and open to communication about anything and everything.

[MaryAnn] For the volunteer buddies, what they tell me is that they have a lot of fun, they learn a lot about other cultures and languages, and also they develop their communication skills, which is really important when you graduate.

[Chris] I've learnt that I tend to use a lot of slang.

[Bronte] It has helped me with my communication skills, my interpersonal skills.

[Divya] Thinking outside the box, and not just thinking as to how I understand things.

[Andrew] What has been great to see is that so many students and buddies have connected and become friends.           

[Marie] A lot of confidence to meet people, and also a very good friend.

[Chris] Not only because I’ve gained two friends out of it, but also because in this world today you need to learn how to network in diverse cultural fields.

[MaryAnn] If you're interested all you have to do is go to our HELPS web page and follow the links, there’ll be plenty of guidance, and if you have any other questions you can just drop in at HELPS and ask us.

Conversations is a free opportunity for students to come and practise speaking their English. It's about a two-hour session and they can drop in at any time. It really helps people develop their confidence in speaking English. They are able to make new friends, cross-faculty, cross-cultural. We talk about all sorts of things, so Australian culture etc., and it’s also a wonderful opportunity for them to be able to practise more formal English for the workplace and to develop interpersonal skills. Most importantly, people get to ask questions about Australia that they might be a bit too shy to ask in other environments. It’s a very easy two hours and I love listening to what the students have to say, to hear their impressions of Australia, and also to learn about their own countries.