The International Programs office reopened its doors this semester to the Learning Exchange at Pepperdine (LEAP) program, a weekly dialogue exchange between Pepperdine’s Spanish-speaking staff and Spanish-studying students. Assistant Director of Academics at International Programs Nichole Skelton, who founded LEAP back in 2009, will head the program for a third year — enlisting the help of Junior Matthew Hibbs as Language and Cultural Exchange intern.
LEAP matches any student wishing to advance their Spanish skills with a staff member who speaks English as a second language.
“LEAP is working on pairing any interested Pepperdine students who want to better their Spanish and usually targets students returning from Buenos Aires, in Spanish classes, or looking to better their Spanish,” Skelton said. “Most employees come from Facilities Management and Planning (FM&P) and are custodial staff and landscapers.”
Coupled according to schedules and language abilities, each student-employee pair meets for 40 minutes per week. Half the session is devoted to practicing English, and other to Spanish. Skelton said these meetings allow students to practice desired, or required, conversational skills and connect with employees they interact with daily but might not ever speak to.
Skelton said many of the pairs formed three years ago have kept up their relationship and seen improved language skills.
“It is not a huge time commitment, but it’s enough of a commitment that you get to know your partner and practice efficiently,” Hibbs said. “I’ve been pairing up on a basis of level of English, level of Spanish, and time constraints.”
Gloria, who works in the custodial department of FM&P, was paired with her English-speaking partner in October but has yet to find a consistent plan with meeting arrangements and lunchtimes.
“The biggest challenge is just making sure people are committed to following through,” Skelton says. “Another potential kink could be scheduling conflicts with FM&P’s shorter lunch breaks and properly utilizing that time.”
But Hibbs has been hard at work recruiting interested and dependable students while gaining the trust of FM&P employees. He has even moved onto Pepperdine’s broader language potential: Chinese.
“I will be sending out emails to international students with English as a second language and Chinese as their first alongside students who have gone, or are going, to Shanghai,” Hibbs said.
So far, about forty students to fifty employees have signed up to participate in the weekly “extended conversation.” The pairs plan to meet throughout the rest of the semester, but many see it as a yearlong commitment.
“A lot of these employees have a big desire to learn English and don’t really have another opportunity to take a class at night,” Skelton said. “We’re working hard on encouraging and fostering these relationships.”