Fighting language barriers

Picture walking into a classroom where you are the minority. While being the minority you are also faced with the challenge of commuicating with another culture. This is exactly what happened this summer! This summer I was in charge of mentoring three Japanese exchange students who came here not speaking English very well at all. I was forced to worked with them three to four hours a day to help them overcome the language barrier while being here in the United States. To be straight forward with you I didn't care much to work with these students. As time went on, I realized that I was becoming more interested in the Japanese culture and their way of life. As we worked and worked to overcome the language barrier we were all starting to get to know one another. They were learning all about out culture, while at the same time I was learning all about their culture. The Japanese students wanted to learn, I feel like I taught them more about our culture then anyone possibly could of showed them. We bonded to the point where they wanted to go out with me on weekends and do what college kids do on their free time. It's simple language and cultural barriers take time getting used to. Giving other cultures and not being so one sided is the key.