Whether in the Olympic Village or On-Campus, Language Skills Make a Difference

Gary Rhodes
Associate Dean, International Education & Senior International Officer,
College of Extended & International Education
Director, Center for Global Education
California State University at Dominguez Hills

Every four years, the Pierre de Cubertin International Symposium takes place parallel to the Summer Olympics and focuses on the wide range of globalized education opportunities afforded to an Olympic host city. This year, the symposium was hosted by the Canterbury Christ Church University in Canterbury, England, on the doorstep of the summer games.

One particularly interesting thing about the Olympic Games is how closely its value system mirrors that of the study abroad/international education world; both institutions support youth development and international understanding and relations. After all, not only are Olympic athletes and study abroad/international students
often the same age, they also face the same types of challenges. As soon as an Olympic athlete steps into the Olympic village, where they are given room and board throughout the games, they are surrounded by a vast new culture filled with languages, people, and even health and safety issues that they have little knowledge about. The exact same thing is true for a U.S. student studying abroad in a country they have probably never been to or an international student enrolled at a U.S. university.

Much like a university or college campus, the Olympics bring people from all over the world to one place. This makes for a great opportunity to share facets of culture going in both directions. One of the real challenges with this kind of culture sharing at this year's London Olympics, and something that I have found is also troublesome in the field of international education, is that all the daily operations are performed in the host city's language. Thus, there are thousands of international athletes and visitors who are not able to fully enjoy the Olympics because of the language barrier. The Center for Global Education has developed resources to help
these Olympic athletes better understand both the cultures of the host city and those they are competing against. The material, which is located at WorldWiseAthlete.com, is helpful, but is often translated word for word, so it tends to lose some of the meaning of its original English phrasing.

The language barrier issue is also very prevalent in international education. The Center for Global Education has developed student study abroad handbooks and the website uStudy.us for international students studying in the U.S., in hopes that they can both improve their English language skills and gain a better understanding of American culture before they study at an American university or college. However, there is still a weakness in the materials currently provided by the Center for Global Education: they are only in English. While this works well for international students from English speaking countries, it is very difficult for students from non English speaking countries to take full advantage of materials provided to them if they can barely read those materials. Even if an international student is traveling to the United States to improve their English skills, they should not be expected to begin learning before they have even made it to university. We certainly do not expect U.S. study abroad students to receive information on their chosen university only in the official language of the institution's country, so why should we expect international students to do the same?

Both the Center for Global Education and Terra Dotta believe that improving the translation quality of these documents can create an environment where an international student can look at the document in both their native language and English at the same time, allowing them to both fully understand the document's meaning as well as how it reads in English. Full understanding of these documents might be imperative to the student's safety—warning them which parts of town they should avoid, places they can seek both mental or physical aid, and any other inherit issues that might be present in the community where they are studying—and thus their universal understandability should be a priority of the institution or business creating them.

Bringing English language training to a more formal level, English as a Second Language teachers fill a critical gap for helping international students better understand and communicate with U.S. students. For international students to have the best possible experience in the U.S., the more American English they understand, the better their experience will be. As we also hope that international students can teach others about the country where they are from – their ability to do so will certainly be enhanced with high quality English language skills. Whether it is in the Olympic Village in London or a U.S. college or university campus, providing support for students or athletes who come from a non-English speaking country, both before they arrive and while they are in-country, is critical for academic success and becoming a global ambassador.