It's his first day as a teaching assistant. He's nervous about teaching in a strange land and not in his native tongue.

He walks into the class and suddenly feels as if he's stepped into the Twilight Zone. All eyes are staring at him, scrutinizing his appearance. Some girls in the back are smirking at his sneakers.

He writes his name on the board and some of the students start to giggle. He hopes they won't laugh at his accent. He can speak the language, but some of his pronunciations are different.

"Hello, I am your TA this semester."

A few students immediately get up and leave. They don't want some foreigner teaching them. Others start mimicking his accent.

Why is there so much disrespect toward foreign TAs?

Their names are difficult to spell and pronounce. And when they talk, some of them sound "funny." Basically, that's all most of us ever learn about their background.

But behind the names and accents are human beings who deserve some basic respect.

Foreign students make many sacrifices to study abroad. The majority use personal/family resources to fund their education. Some are sponsored by home universities, American universities, home governments, the American government or corporations. Serving as teaching assistants supplements the cost of education.

"It would be impossible for me to come here to study without aid from the University," said Angela Karali, who teaches Engineering Mechanics 012.

Karali is from Greece, where the five existing universities do not have graduate-level engineering courses. To earn a doctorate, she had to travel abroad.

Another reason for the seeming abundance of foreign TAs is the lack of American students furthering their higher education.

"It's not that the University prefers foreign TAs. Quality American students aren't available," said Karen Johnson from the University's Center of English as a Second Language. Americans are choosing to begin their careers and start making money, especially students in engineering, science and math majors.

Many times I have heard students complain about the English proficiency of foreign TAs.

"I can't understand my TA," a student says. "His English is awful."

Students have forgotten the difficult task these individuals have in teaching in a second language. TAs must have the ability not only to speak, but also to think in English. On top of that, they are battling culture shock.

When SangPyo Kim first arrived from Korea to teach physics here, he had trouble understanding the psyche of Penn State undergraduates.

"At the beginning, I thought the students were rude. In my country, the teacher has all authority and the students obey the instructor. Here, the role of the students is more active. At first, they would ask questions that I thought weren't polite," Kim said.

Ki Kalari originally had trouble relating to students' different educational levels. In Greece, a national exam is given before entering college. All students are expected to attain a certain level of education before they begin college.

Here, Kalari said, students come from different backgrounds with some having a more superior high school education. All students are not exposed to the same material.

Regarding language instruction, all foreign TAs are screened for oral proficiency when they arrive at Penn State. They are recommended for different courses of action based on their scores.

Some need no further instruction, some are advised to sign up for various speech communication classes while they teach, and others are recommended not to teach at all until they have a firmer grasp of the English language.

Lisa Firing Lenze, program assistant for the Instructional Development Program, thinks Penn State students are not willing to tolerate foreign teachers. Lenze's office is in charge of setting up seminars, lectures and panel discussions to aid TAs University-wide in the classroom environment.

"If students take time and make allowances for intonations and accents, they are able to understand the TAs," Lenze said.

One problem with speech communication courses and TA training classes is that they are not required, she said. Each department is responsible for setting requirements for its TAs.

So, the next time you are having difficulty understanding a foreign TA, don't take your anger out on him or her. It is up to each department to make sure TAs are properly trained and coherent. Express your anger to your department head.

Be patient with foreign TAs. They are the best their countries have to offer, and we are lucky to have them here.

It's always difficult being the new kid on the block . . . especially when the block is 15,000 miles from home.