On a campus with 10,000 undergraduate students, 15 is a small number.

That’s how many students are enrolled in the Intensive English Program, which is designed for international students with little knowledge of the English language.

To help build their speaking abilities, seven IEP students were each placed with a native English-speaker on the fourth floor of Towers South, home to the International Living Learning Community. Along with the seven IEP students, 13 additional international students live on the floor.

Residents of the International LLC said language isn’t the only benefit of the setup — a strong sense of community plays a role, too.

Hassan Dossary, an international student from Saudi Arabia, said living in the International Living Learning Community has positively influenced his experience at Eau Claire.

“I would say it’s one of the best experiences in my life,” Dossary said.