Student Diversity June 2017
VanWest College is proud of the student diversity at both of its campuses. There are representatives from various areas around the world, ranging from Asia to Latin America to Europe. This variety enhances everyone’s education and is very important.
Why is it important to have student diversity?
When students enter a classroom, they step into a room filled with people who share the same goal – learning English – but who come from vastly different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The most obvious advantage is that students have to work to be understood using only English, since they do not have the option of using their own languages.
In addition, people not only come to Vancouver to learn English, but to have a special experience. Because students are all in the same situation, they support and encourage one another. This creates friendships that will change them. English is a tool with which we learn new things about countries that we have perhaps never visited. It enables us to view the world from our classmates’ eyes, enriching our own points of view.
Lastly, a multicultural classroom reflects the realities of our growing society. Nowadays, as companies grow, they become more international. As such, it is increasingly important to be aware of and exposed to people and cultures from all over. This increases our chances of being successful, no matter what our path to success may be.
We hope that we will be able to welcome people from even more new places in the future, and thank all our current students for sharing their knowledge and experiences with us while they are here!
ESL Program in Vancouver Campus total 210 students
Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, etc.) 30%
Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, etc.) 50%
Europe (Italy, Czech Republic, Turkey etc.) 10%
Others (Canada, Syria, Saudi Arabia, etc.) 10%
ESL Program in Kelowna Campus total 60 students
Asia (Japan, Korea, etc.) 60%
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, etc.) 30%
Others (Switzerland, Russia, etc.) 10%
