From Food to Language, International Students Learn to Adjust

When Ibrahim Cisse jetted into the United States from the West African country of Niger in 2000, the only English words he spoke were, “the window” and “the door.” Now he can converse fluently in the language.

Photo credit: Fredrick Cooper/Campus Echo Staff Ibrahim Cisse, a senior at N.C. Central University majoring in physics, is from Niger.

“All I could speak was French; I did my high school education in French. When I came here, I had to spend two months at UNC Wilmington doing a program called English as a Second Language," said Cisse, a senior physics major at North Carolina Central University, referring to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

“After the two months of intense learning, I was able to communicate in English and make a lot of friends.”

Among the increasing population at the Durham, N.C., university are students from different parts of the world who spend a lot of time learning the art of adjusting to life in the United States.

They are from Liberia, India, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, British Virgin Islands, Kenya, China, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Jordan, Jamaica, Panama, Ukraine, Ghana, Japan, Bahamas, Colombia, United Kingdom, Lebanon, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Turkey, Congo, Panama, Belarus, Canada and Trinidad. All told, 57 of North Carolina Central's 7,191 students are classified as international.

The Institute of International Education, which promotes closer educational relations between the United States and other nations, reported Nov. 3 that there were 586,323 international students studying in the U.S. last year -- a number growing only slightly because of restrictions placed by the U.S. government after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“ I learn a lot from my American friends and try to adjust, but it’s not easy. I can only do what I can,” said Sarfaraz Riaz, a sophomore visual communications major from Pakistan.

Ruth Odamtten, a freshman nursing major from Ghana, said she faces many problems when conversing with Americans because she was schooled in British English, which differs slightly from the American variety.

“When I just got here and saw the word 'restroom' written on doors, I thought they were rooms where people who were tired would go and sleep,” she said.

“In Ghana, we don’t call what are called here restrooms 'restrooms.' They are called toilets in my country.”

When Americans talk, she said, she tries to figure out the meanings of words that will confuse her.

“I listen to what they say, and when I talk, I say things the way they say in order for them to understand me."

Some of the foreign students do not have relatives in the U.S., and they spend the duration of their studies without going back to their countries.

“I am the only one from our family here, and I have been here for three years. And I have never gone back home,” said Cisse.

Photo credit: Rony Camille/Campus Echo Nadia Gavrilova, sophomore biology major at N.C. Central University, emigrated from Belarus.

The students also have to make an adjustment with food.

“I am not used to American food, but that is no big problem to me; there is lot of Russian food in stores around,” said Nadia Gavrilova from Belarus, a sophomore biology major.

The foreign students speak highly of the quality of education at North Carolina Central and say it is worth their sacrifices.

They may be away from their parents, but they say they are glad to have Emma L. Mosby, the international students adviser who some of them have nicknamed “Mother."

“Whenever I can help them solve their problems, I help, but the only problems come to funding. I cannot provide them with funds,” Mosby said.

Mosby is also the adviser to North Carolina Central's International Students Organization. She said she was impressed by how the international students excel in their studies.

“They study hard. Education is their main concentration and they are getting good grades,” she said.

“I am very proud of my students. Some of them go on to do their master's degrees and some go on to do PhDs," Mosby said.

Lovemore Masakadza is a student at North Carolina Central University who is editor-in-chief of the Campus Echo.

Posted Nov. 3, 2003