Coming to a country that we had never visited was hard for most international students. We had to overcome lots of hardships, such as the inactivity in the class. I, as an international student, have received complaints from my teachers in class that my performance worsened in my classes just because I did not ask any question during class meetings. I felt that my teachers were not fair enough since they did not know the reasons behind my inactivity in the class. Thus, I started to observe other international students’ performances.

I came up with three major reasons for international students’ inactivity in the classes. The first reason is our fear and shame of our English skills. When we ask questions to the teachers or classmates, some of them do not understand what we say and what our questions are so they make fun of us. The second reason is some cultures’ limitation of speaking or debating with older people. International students have been raised to obey their culture. They are taught not to speak or debate with elders; thus, they might feel that asking questions and correcting/ debating with other people who look older than them in classes are rude. The last reason is the teachers’ appearance. Some teachers appear scary, unfriendly, and not understanding to students. Therefore, students prefer not to bother the teachers by asking questions that they might find annoying or stupid.

To solve international students’ inactivity in classes, the teachers and students should change themselves. The teachers should be friendlier, wiser, and more understanding to the students’ limitation of English ability. They should answer the questions from pupils inside or outside the classroom in a proper time willingly and kindly, without using harsh words that might hurt the students’ feelings.

Beside that, the international students should also think more positively. They have to realize that there are more international people who come to the U.S. and do not understand English at all; hence, they have to be more confident of their English skill. To overcome their unconfident characteristics, they can start by asking questions after the classes end or during the teachers’ office hours one-on-one. They also need to realize that it will be such a waste if they do not experience being open-minded students who can state and ask questions freely when they are in the “most liberal” country in the world.

It is not easy to change our characteristics but when we have changed, we will be very proud of ourselves and happier with our conditions.

Sincerely,

Debeasinta Budiman