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ILI

The International Language Institute of Massachusetts (ILI) promotes intercultural understanding and diverse communities by providing high-quality language instruction and teacher training.

You are here: Home / News / An Interview with MJ Adams: An International Host and Global Citizen

June 2, 2022

An Interview with MJ Adams: An International Host and Global Citizen

Hosting international students is no easy feat for any individual to accomplish. It is a task that requires much patience and care. It is also one that can be quite enjoyable and rewarding. Local resident MJ Adams recently sat down to talk about her wonderful experiences as a host for many international students at ILI over the years.

At the dinner table with international students.
MJ, Flora, Edumundo & Luis- evening meals were the best time to talk.

MJ first decided to become a host family for international students in 2015 and hosted dozens of aspiring students up until 2021. Students from countries such as Congo Brazzaville, Afghanistan, Japan, and many other countries found themselves in her happy home for their time spent learning the English language at ILI. A local resident of Northampton at the time, she felt inspired after her one of own daughters spent her junior year of high school studying abroad in Italy. After this experience, MJ’s family hosted a young woman from France studying in the United States. These experiences demonstrated to MJ and her family how truly amazing it can be to explore other cultures and diversify paths for education.

After her daughters went off to college to follow their own academic paths, MJ found the house she owned to be a bit too empty. As a result, she reached out to ILI and soon began hosting many international students from all over the world. The students she hosted

Jawid, a Fulbright student experiencing the joys of homeownership by cutting the grass.
Jawid, a Fulbright student experiencing the joys of homeownership by cutting the grass.

ranged in age, were at different chapters in their academic and professional careers, and came from many different countries. From teenagers aspiring to start their careers to established poets and even government officials, MJ welcomed each student into her home during their stay. She describes her experiences and relationships with all the individuals she hosted as “a really important piece of my life, at a time when I could’ve been very lonely, my home and my heart felt very full.” The students’ ultimate goal for traveling to America was to learn English, but MJ explains that during their stay they were able to learn so much more, culturally, than language. Noting that the learning experience went both ways, MJ experienced deep joy in learning about different cultures from all over the world while hosting. From different religions to cooking, she was able to understand so much more about other cultures in the world and how those impactful experiences could shape a person into a global citizen.

For MJ, an extremely significant practice was eating dinners at home with the students in a comfortable family environment. During this time the students could practice their English and learn

A day at the beach with international students.
A day at the beach with Jawid, Mim, Prince and Lastone.

about the culture around them. These important and enjoyable moments let the students unwind, be themselves, and practice the language they were learning. They also learned about other global cultures from each other. Spending time with the students outside of her home also became a way to have fun and learn from one another. Hiking and exploring the area around Northampton helped the students bond. Practices such as these enabled everyone to grow more as an individual and as a global citizen. In her own words, MJ refers to what she learned from these experiences saying, “I don’t just see myself as being an American. I see myself as being a global citizen and this is one piece of being a member of that global environment.” 

During the interview, MJ highlighted how much the students seemed to grow in the time between their arrival and departure. She noted that some students might arrive with barriers in verbal communication despite strong written skills. However, upon their departure from her home there was a noticeable development in their communication skills. This stems from both their hard work and outstanding education at ILI as well as the experiences they had staying in her home. When finally asked about what her overall time hosting has meant to her, MJ said with a smile, “I hope I gave them good solid encouragement and love and support for what they want to do and make the world a better place. I hope that I am remembered as a host family that was curious, engaging, supportive, and enthusiastic, giving them what they needed to be successful but also encouraging them to explore and to step out of their comfort zone.”

Interview and article by Tony Scarpa, UMass Amherst Community Engagement Course: Multilingualism and Literacy, spring 2022

Learn more about becoming a host family here.   

Questions? Contact Amy Ben-Ezra, amy@ili.edu.

Prince, Mim & Jawid ride the ski lift to top of a mountain.
Prince, Mim & Jawid ride the ski lift to top of a mountain.

Article by ILI Staff / News

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“Music is the universal language of mankind.” “Music is the universal language of mankind.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

ILI English and French instructor, Josh Owsley is also a musician! He will be playing bass with @landownerband tonight at @thedrakeamherst . 🎶Hope to see you there!

📸Photo by @vagabundodeltiempo 

#ili #internationallanguageinstitute #massachusetts #northampton #landowner #livemusic #teacherfeature #thedrakeamherst  #community
Congratulations 🎉 to our graduates  Jeffrey ( Congratulations 🎉 to our graduates  Jeffrey (Peru), Azhar (Kazakhstan), Ruveyda (Turkey), Andrei (Russia) and Yasemin (Turkey). Every month we have an international potluck to celebrate our graduates. You might have seen Azhar’s cakes before, but the cake that she made, as you will say, is truly over the top! We are sad to say goodbye to the students, but excited about the next steps that they will be taking in their lives.

Cake by @_azhar_bakery 

#ili #internationallanguageinstitute #massachusetts #northampton #studentlife #azharbakery #potluck #education #internationalstudents #ialc #ialclanguages
“We must risk everything for the raw recipe of o “We must risk everything for the raw recipe of our passion” 

We had such an engaging afternoon at @parlorroommusic with ILI Board Member + former president of @gccgreenfield Bob Pura. Bob led a reading and discussion of his new book The Community’s College: The Pursuit of Democracy, Economic Development, and Success, which he co-wrote with Dr. Tara L. Parker. Audience members also got the chance to learn more about the process behind the creation of the book. 

Thank you for joining us! 📚

#ili #internationallanguageinstitute #massachusetts #bobpura #authorevent #reading #discussion #communitycollege #thecommunityscollege #northampton
Today Bob Pura and Tara Parker read from and lead Today Bob Pura and Tara Parker read from and lead a discussion of their book The Community’s College: The Pursuit of Democracy, Economic Development, and Success! 📚 Join us at @parlorroommusic at 2pm. 

In their book, The Community’s College: The Pursuit of Democracy, Economic Development, and Success, co-authors Dr. Robert L. Pura and Dr. Tara L. Parker explore the extraordinary impact of this country’s community colleges on people, communities, and our democratic traditions.

As the book’s foreword by Lynn Pasquerella, President of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, states: "[T]he analysis offered by Dr. Pura and Dr. Parker unveils how community colleges—distinctively American institutions—are more essential than ever to fulfilling our nation's historic mission of educating for democracy."

Pura, a member of the ILI board of directors, retired in 2018 as president of Greenfield Community College after 17+ years in that position. Parker is the recently appointed Dean of the College of Education and Human Development at UMass Boston.
 
#thecommunityscollege #authorevent #ili #bobpura #taraparker #theparlorroom #northampton #community
TOMORROW - Saturday, January 28th don't miss an Au TOMORROW - Saturday, January 28th don't miss an Author Reading & Discussion with Bob Pura + Tara Parker at @parlorroommusic at 2pm!

Bob Pura, former Greenfield Community College president (18 years) and now an ILI board member, was on the Bill Newman radio show yesterday discussing his new book. 

So many of our students have found success at @gccgreenfield . Here's a photo of all of ILI's students who were at GCC during Bob's last year...including former board member, Aimee Salmon. Aimee is at Mt. Holyoke and graduating this semester, Florice is at Tulane, Bene is at Smith, Orphee is at Western New England University, Flora just graduated from Western New England and is an electrical engineer in Connecticut and Lastone graduated from UMASS and works in Boston.

➡️Listen to the radio show here: https://whmp.com/podcasts/the-communitys-college/

#whmp #ili #thecommunityscollege #bobpura #taraparker #communitycollege #authorevent #northampton #internationallanguageinstitute #massachusetts
This past fall, ILI applied to #MassachusettsDepar This past fall, ILI applied to #MassachusettsDepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation’s (DESE) competitive grant program to help fund our free English classes for immigrants and refugees. The hard work paid off. When DESE announced the recipients, ILI was on the list! ✨

“We were thrilled to get the good news,” said Macey Faiella, director of ILI’s English programs. “The pandemic shed new light on the disparities that face immigrants and refugees, and we reassessed our program to include greatly expanded offerings. DESE responded positively—all to the benefit of the students.” Starting this fall ILI will teach four levels of online and in-person evening classes and a new intensive in-person morning course. 

For 34 years, ILI has partnered with the state to provide free English classes in western Massachusetts. This award extends the partnership for an additional five years. It funds about two-thirds of the overall program. ILI is responsible for the remaining costs.

#ili #internationallanguageinstitute #massachusetts #dese #education #grant #nonprofit #freeenglishprogram #mass #community
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