For every freshman at BYU, finding a place to live to a big concern. BYU offers on-campus housing and off-campus student housing for incoming freshman to choose from.
Living in an off-campus student apartment, I have observed some problems. Some apartments are full of students who are from outside of the United States, so none of them are native English speakers nor fluent in English. And my concern is that this kind of environment might hinder the international students from learning more about the U.S. culture.
Taking my apartment as an example, everyone living in here is Asian. We all have difficulties in understanding English, as well as communicating with one another in English. It is not beneficial for anyone in this apartment because none of us has improved our English fluency. I really wish we could have a native English speaker in our apartment so she could teach us about American culture and correct our flaws in pronunciation or misuse of words.
I think that apart from continuing their education, international students’ purpose of going abroad is to learn more about the culture and language of their chosen country. Therefore, in order to provide a more beneficial living and learning environment for the international students, it is important for the leasing office to put at least one native speaker in each off-campus apartment.
Rui Xiong
Chong Qing, China
