Please keep these guidelines in mind when attending a WICE conversation group:

1. Introduce yourself to everyone in your small group.

2. Make sure that everyone has an opportunity to speak in their non-native language.

3. Listen respectfully, without interrupting.

4. Refrain from private conversations while others are speaking.

5. Be generous to others.  Do not monopolize the conversation in either language.

6. If someone says something that you do not understand, ask for clarification.

7. Define words, explain idioms, repeat clearly and speak more slowly when necessary.

8. Listen actively in order to understand others’ views, even if those views conflict with your own.

9. Please respect the time limit of 45 minutes in both languages.

 10. Speak up.  It’s natural to feel less confident when you’re speaking a second language. But it’s very important to practice.

11. In the small groups we often use “tu” rather than “vous.”  If you are uncomfortable with this practice, you do not have to do it.

Thank you for your understanding and effort to make the WICE conversation groups work!

Back to Conversation Group web page.