<p>In Janet Goodwin?s English as a second language course for international teaching assistants, one of the first assignments for her students is to master the elusive art of small talk. <br/>International TAs (ITAs) must begin a discussion section using small-talk strategies outlined in the class handbook. <br/>In one presentation, an ITA enters the room, spreads out his notebooks and pens on the desk and asks nervously, ?How was your weekend?? He quickly corrects his pronunciation and asks again, ?How was your weekend?? <br/>Part of Goodwin?s class is designed to help ITAs learn the correct pronunciation of English words. <br/>After a few responses, the ITA shows the class his new iPod, one example of a technique to allow him to create a talking point with students and develop rapport, Goodwin said. <br/>Learning the skills to create small talk in English is only one of the obstacles faced by ITAs, who come to UCLA to earn doctoral degrees. These obstacles include leaving family and friends, obtaining a U.S. Social Security number and learning to navigate traffic on the 405 Freeway. <br/>Shiva Navab, a graduate student in electrical engineering, said the hardest aspects of coming to the U.S. from Iran were leaving her family and learning to talk to people in English. <br/>?It was difficult for me to leave my family because I am very close to them,? she said. <br/>Like all other international graduate students, Navab was required to take the Test of Oral Proficiency before she could being teaching. If international graduate students do not pass this test at the highest of three levels, they must take an ESL course. <br/>Though she studied English extensively in college, Navab said she was not prepared to teach students in English and needed to take an ESL course. <br/>?There is a big difference between studying English and talking to people in everyday situations,? Navab said. <br/>Navab said that after taking the first required ESL course, she continued to take the courses because they helped her teaching and gave her communication skills she needed in her personal life as well. <br/>Guillaume Calafat, a history graduate student, came to UCLA from France this September as part of an exchange program between the university he attends in his home country and UCLA. <br/>Calafat will stay at UCLA for one year to complete his doctorate degree and teach French language courses as a lecturer, meaning that he teaches classes without a faculty adviser. <br/>In the undergraduate French class he leads, Calafat teaches French culture in addition to the language itself. He covers the culture of young people, families, employment and politics, he said. <br/>?It?s easy for me to do a lot of improvisation about these topics because I have lived in France,? Calafat said. ?Very often (students) will ask me questions about my personal life.? <br/>One of Calafat?s students, Michelle Lee, said Calafat?s personal experience in France has helped her figure out where she wants to study abroad. <br/>Lee decided to study in Bordeaux, France, next spring, after asking Calafat for advice about which program to choose based on the ambience of different cities. <br/>?It?s very helpful to have someone who has an inside opinion about France,? said Lee, a second-year French and linguistics student.</p><br><br><a href='; target='_blank'>;