Academic Resources for Multilingual Students

Conversation Partners

Conversation Partners are a type of tutor, or peer mentor, who give students an opportunity to speak and ask questions in a supportive space with feedback related to language, culture and discourse strategies. Our goal is to help students feel competent and confident joining the conversations (academic and social) that are taking place all around them at St. Olaf.

To request a partner, please meet with Anne.

Interested in working as a Conversation Partner, please contact Anne.

Adaptations to Testing for Multilingual Students

St. Olaf professors are committed to making course content accessible to all students. The St. Olaf College Statement on Instructional Adaptations to Testing Procedures aims to support students whose first language is not English during their first and second years of study at St. Olaf.

The professor always has discretion as to when it is or is not appropriate to offer alternate testing formats, such as time-and-a-half or verbal clarification of exam questions, if a student could “show what they know” given a little more time to process in English.

“There is this excitement and energy that I have for all the work right after classes because briefly after the interaction with class, the class materials and the professor are still in my brain. If I go right to the library right after the class, I can get quite a lot of work done.”
“I change my study spots frequently. I studied a lot in my room, but I began procrastinating because it became my comfort place. I shifted my study location to the Undercroft (Boe Chapel’s common area), and then to the fourth floor of the library.”
“Find distraction-free spaces.”
“I order an iced matcha latte (always with lots of ice) and use that moment to motivate myself for my writing assignments.”
“I use observation time to think… watching people playing pool, watching squirrels running outside of my window.”
“Relaxing background music helps me focus better.”
“White noise such as rain or campfire helps me concentrate. I can feel peace and relaxation, and it allows me to gradually get into writing mode.”

Try “breaking big tasks into smaller goals (for example, dividing a big essay assignments into manageable chunks.”
Try the Pomodoro technique: “I’ll write for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break (during this 5 minute break I’ll usually walk around or talk to my friends). After repeating this 3 or 4 times, I will take a longer break.”
“Some days, I would take a nap first before continuing with the given task, especially if it is a long one, to generate energy to think properly. This is because I know that I tend to give not well reasoned answers when I am tired.”
“Use more resources provided at St. Olaf, such as Writing desk Tutoring, SI sessions, Piper Center, Smith Center, Academic tutoring, etc. People here are happy to help.”

“I try to spend a little time each day just thinking about the topic or writing down a few ideas, even if I am not fully writing yet.”
“Sometimes when I don’t have time to sit down and write, I use voice notes to discuss ideas with myself. I can express myself without thinking about grammar or structure because of it.”
“Just jotting down whatever I think of, either wrong or right in the form of bullet points, and then I use an ‘elimination method.’”
“Reading my research to someone else allows me to receive feedback and reflect on my work.
“Peer exchange and feedback proved quite invaluable for sharpening up my analytical thinking, and thesis development.”
“Sharing my rhetorical analysis with friends back home was very helpful, even just reading it out loud was productive.”
“EasyWriter helped me a lot to understand the basics about essay writing.”
“Throughout this semester, we have written many assignments so I believe that I naturally developed a habit of writing.”

“Do not be afraid to ask questions, no question is stupid, whether it’s about academics or adjusting to campus life.”
“Get involved, even if you’re unsure. Joining clubs or going to events is one of the best ways to meet people and feel connected.”
“Take care of yourself. Balance is key, academics are important, but so are rest and socializing.”
College life might be difficult, but… “be courageous, be resilient, and enjoy it!”
“Just stay curious.”
“Try not to do homework right before bed. Save that last hour for yourself.”

Seven Steps to Success at College (A one-page handout with advice for any student starting college)

Email Etiquette (A one-page handout with advice for polite and effective email interactions on campus)

Tips for Participating in Class (A collection of strategies to try if you’d like to participate more in class)

Learning to Join the Conversation (A Prezi that shows the steps we take when we join academic conversations — small and large, spoken and written)

SODA: St. Olaf’s Dictionary of Acronyms (Professor Louis Epstein’s list of the common campus acronyms and what they mean)

St. Olaf Writing Desk (the campus writing center, where tutors listen, ask questions, and provide guidance for any writer, on any paper, at any stage of the writing process)

Purdue OWL and Excelsior Online Writing Lab (online resources for writers of all kinds)

Write Well (a collection of one-minute “microlectures” from Macalester College faculty)

Clue Fourteen (a collection of 14-minute podcasts for college writers from faculty at Lake Superior College)

Research Tips (videos from NC State University Libraries)

Academic Phrasebank (template language for rhetorical moves in research papers)

Anne’s Handouts

Colons, Commas, and Semi-Colons

Hyphens and Dashes

Grammar Games

FreeRice.com (quick quizzes)

GrammarBook.com and EnglishPage.com (lessons and quizzes with feedback)

a4esl.org (grammar, vocab, and translation games)

Vocabulary Expansion

FreeRice.com (language quizzes)

a4esl.org (vocabulary and translation)

visuwords.com (word groups and associations)