Penn State University students reflect on the ‘More than Words’ project as it comes to a close for this academic year
“I cannot even begin to start to try to put into words what this class has done for me.”
The project was created to provide our students in Gaza with the practical opportunity to improve their conversational skills in English.
Each week, 17 students from Gaza partner up with a PSU student online, where they speak English together.
Due to the power cuts that Gaza has suffered from over the past few months, the students in Gaza have struggled with keeping up their MTW schedules, but they have taken the conversation on to social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
Devon Jacobs, the project coordinator at PSU is responsible for partnering the students up, and follows their progress and timekeeping.
She says: “Despite the challenges faced in communicating online as much as we would like, the students in Gaza report that they are still able to learn a lot from the class and the experience.
"Both sides of the conversation express frustration in not being able to get in touch more easily, but I am continually impressed with how they use this struggle as a reminder to appreciate what we take for granted here in the US, and to appreciate the strength of the people in Gaza. We have spent a lot of time in class discussing empathy, reading articles on Gaza, discussing active listening and connecting with people.”
Andrew Luettgan, a PSU student speaking with Msallam Abu Khalil from Gaza said:
“More Than Words has been a very intriguing learning experience on many levels. Being able to connect with a student of a completely different culture on the opposite side of the world is only the beginning of why this class has meant so much to me.
“Things we've done in the classroom have taught me how to replace cheap and repetitive conversation among friends, family, and acquaintances with deeper and more intimate conversation. It has helped me build stronger bonds with many of the people I talk to or meet on a regular basis.
“It taught me not just how to be a better listener, but also how to better understand what people are saying and where they're coming from. I learned how to be a communicator. It has taught me to empathize with other people's ideas and thoughts.
“This new-found ability to engage in more effective conversation on a daily basis has enabled me to collect more ideas from the people around me. I use these new ideas to shape the way I live, and will continue to do that into the future. It's like a tool that will always give me the ability to keep learning. And the fact that I can use that tool to learn from a student on the other side of the world is awesome.”
He added: “Talking with my partner, Msallam, has showed me that people from around the world are just as interested in learning about me as I am in learning about them.
“This is such a great incentive to seek out the opportunity to connect with other people. And when I do learn more about him and his culture, I take that information, bring it to the More Than Words class, and converge it with my classmates’ ideas to dig deeper into what we can get from these conversations. It shows you that conversation should be, and is, more than just words.”
