EC Boston has relaunched its Conversation Partner Program for its Winter Session! Our Conversation Partner Program gives our students the opportunity to be paired up with a native English speaker to gain that authentic Boston experience. Partners meet at least once a week to chat about interests, including hobbies, music, movies, culture, language and more. Partners meet at different locations throughout the city of Boston to practice their English while also forming new friendships. The program is designed for students studying with EC Boston for at least 8 weeks; as this allows the partnership to really grow and contribute toward students’ English language learning and their experience studying in the United States. Our Student Services Coordinators interview a wide variety of volunteers from the local community. We have musicians and scientists and university students and retirees and everything in between! We background check all of our volunteers, we provide detailed training, and we get to know our volunteers. And of course, we know every single one of our students very well. This way, we can be sure to create the best possible partnerships between our students and our volunteers! Many of our past students have said this is their favorite memory of their time in the US. We have wonderful teachers and exciting, challenging classes, but our Conversation Partner Program is something truly unique. When a student participates in this program, suddenly they’re not just studying English in the United States. Rather, they’re experiencing English in the United States. They’re meeting up with a native-speaking friend for coffee and chatting about local food. They’re grabbing a drink at a local (Irish!) bar and talking about music. They’re meeting up in one of Boston’s world-famous museums or art galleries and learning history together. This is what we mean when we say … Read more