CONVERSATION PARTNER PROGRAM
Conversation Partner Guidelines for Volunteers
The purpose of having a Conversation Partner is to make friends with someone from another country. This is an opportunity to learn about another culture and to help someone else learn about the American culture. Your international partner also wants to practice his/her English and make friends with an American.
Please plan to meet your partner for one hour each week. (You may meet more than one hour a week if you like, of course.) Try to be interested in your partner's culture and to understand the way your partner thinks. If you are seeking volunteer credit through the FSU Servscript program, you and your Conversation Partner will need to verify contact hours before we can sign your Servscript form.
Your international partner does not expect you to entertain him/her, but just to be a conversational friend. You do not always have to make special plans for your partner's benefit, but just include him/her in some of your usual activities.
Some Suggested Activities:
- Meet for coffee;
- Eat lunch on campus together;
- Ask your partner to teach you to cook some of his/her native food;
- Invite your partner to join you and your friends for an activity;
- Go to an FSU sporting event.
Have fun and enjoy getting to know each other and each other's cultures!
Complete the Online Application for Conversation Partners in order to get involved, and review our complete Conversation Partner Program Terms. If you have any questions, please contact the CIES staff at cies@fsu.edu.
GETTING OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY WITH CIES
CIES students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities every session at CIES. Students usually begin the session with a "break-the-ice" bowling activity at the Crenshaw Lanes on the campus of Florida State University. Other activities include trips to the beach at St. George Island where students picnic and enjoy the beautiful, white sandy beaches and the crystal clear, blue water of the Gulf of Mexico. Trips to Wakulla Springs (where you can swim with alligators), tubing on the Ichetucknee River, and our very special International Dinner are just some of the other many wonderful and exciting activities that are available to you as a student of CIES.
STAY CONNECTED WITH CIES ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITY PHOTO ARCHIVES
CANOEING AT THE REZ
This is the CIES crew at the "FSU Reservation" on Lake Bradford. We had a lot of fun canoeing, watching the wildlife, playing a little volleyball and of course...getting wet! Don't rock the canoe!!!
LEON SINKS
The pictures above are the CIES crew hiking through the beautiful sink holes of north Florida, where they say the waters can give you eternal youth!
TORREYA STATE PARK
Here we are enjoying the beautiful nature at Torreya State Park and learning a little bit about life during the Civil War. We had a great time hiking, eating good southern food!
WAKULLA SPRINGS
Wakulla Spring is one of the largest springs in the world, discharging an average of 260 million gallons of water per day! Visitors to Wakulla Springs State Park can go on a boat tour where they will see see alligators, manatees, turtles, and many kinds of fish and birds up close. If you're feeling brave you can also jump from a diving platform into the cool spring water!
THE BEACH
What can I say? Any day at the beach is good, but especially when you are with the CIES beach bum crew!!! We had an amazing time enjoying the beautiful beach at St. George Island playing volleyball and soccer, skimboarding, and jamming out on the beach. What could be better?
GAMES
We had an incredible time playing soccer with other international students this session! Playing as a team really united everyone by having a great time, getting some good exercise and making incredible memories. Go CIES International Allstars!
Also see the CIES gang at the bowling alley. STRIKE!!!
