Blog Post #6

This is it. The end of our first (and for some, our only) semester as Chat Cafe facilitators for Sweetland. We all knew that this day would come, we just did not expect it to arrive so soon. It's somewhat bittersweet. On one hand, this signifies the end of our groups, the collection of people that we as facilitators have come to had meaningful and interesting conversations with. Ranging from food to art to customs to politics, each one of these sessions have undoubtedly resulted in both the facilitator and participants learning and growing from the dialogue provided: and now such groups will dissipate alongside the semester. Yet, we should not be sad over such things occurring, it was only natural that this would happen. Rather, we as facilitators should relish in the fact that we have learned from these sessions as much as the participants have. We learned a lot about interacting with individuals who have english as a secondary language, how to strike a conversation with them, and how silence can sometimes lead to the most fruitful dialogues. All of these lessons will be invaluable to us as we carry on with our lives, and will undoubtedly be of use in the future of this ever connecting world.

In terms of the highlights, I would say that the best moment was when natural dialogue started to occur. When I got the participants to effectively communicate with each other while saying very little, I knew that I have succeeded in my role as a facilitator. Rather than trying to instigate a conversation, it occurred quite spontaneously without any guidance from me. From then on, for the rest of the session, I let them take the reigns while offering my opinions here and there when asked. I would say that this moment was undoubtedly the most successful one that has occurred throughout the entirety of the semester.

With regards to improvements, I would say trying to organize more events next time would be far more beneficial for promoting dialogue. Most of the time, we were situated around a table talking about random things for an hour; ergo, it would sometimes become difficult to nurture natural conversation. If I could change one thing about my chat cafe sessions overall, I would try to promote more trips throughout the campus; not only would the participants benefit from seeing much more of the university they go to, but it would also lead to more interesting topics of conversation.

Finally, in terms of lessons that could be garnered from this experience as a whole, there are so many little aspects that will undoubtedly help me in future endeavors. The finite details in conversation that many may overlook when speaking are of paramount importance when it comes to chat cafe sessions, and being able to recognize the importance of these will serve as crucial information when it comes to interacting with other people internationally. I plan to use such information in order to help non-native english speakers improve their speaking and writing, in order to allow for more effective forms of communication. As a peer writing consultant, these lessons will certainly help me in further consultations, as I will be able to better help the writer express their concerns and points of view, subsequently allowing me to better address such problems in their pieces. While this specific application may only be applicable to me, I know that there are many more avenues with which such information will aid all of us in our future.