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"At my age, this program is very good," said Guilherme during a break between classes. "The high school students who have come get a good understanding of English and of America, but for me, I realize the benefits of learning English and how that will help me in my career."

Guilherme was also fortunate to spend a day with Jackson attorney, Greg Jordan, and took a visit with him to the Supreme Court of Jackson. It was there that Guilherme impressed himself with how many words he was able to understand though only speaking English for a year.

"I had a fantastic experience while I was at the court," said Guilherme. "I listened to a woman speaking and while she was speaking, I was able to perceive through understanding her English that she was speaking very impolitely, and I asked Greg Jordan, and he agreed with me."

The young law-student has only two more years before he will graduate from law school. Guilherme hopes to study international law one day in America.

"I would love to live here in America for at least five years and learn English. English is a very important skill for my job as a lawyer."

As for Greg Jordan, Guilherme thinks "he is the best lawyer in Jackson. He taught me in my visit with him that we can be serious and responsible people, but also help people and show a sense of humor." Guilherme also added, "I think his family is an example of a great family. They opened their home to me and I was very comfortable with all of them."

According to Philip Ryan, coordinator of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program and associate professor of language at Union, the students study a wide variety of topics, including U.S. Culture, Theatre and Art.

"The students take classes which are focused on conversational English rather than proper use of grammar and syntax," said Ryan. "Our goal is to increase the students' skills by increasing their comfort level with the English language."

Each year, the Brazilian students begin their month abroad in America with a trip to New York City to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve in Times Square. They then fly to Tennessee, where they spend an intense three weeks learning and speaking English through several methods including doing research in the university's library on certain topics, interviewing English-speaking individuals and of course, taking field trips, and seeing much of Memphis and Nashville.

Bridget Diggs, a 1999 graduate of Union, has been involved with the Brazilian Exchange program for the last five years after spending six months in Brazil. Diggs said she loves working with the students.

"They really teach us about their culture, just as much as we teach them about English," said Diggs. "It's amazing to see some of the students who come in speaking little or no English and three weeks into the program they're conversing easily with each other and the teachers as well as other Union students, staff & faculty."

Another benefit of the program is that 黑料论坛 students are used 70% of the time as teachers in the program. Only a year old, the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program already has seven students majoring in it.