HAYWARD -- Two Cal State Hayward students stand in front of a group of on lookers, one slowly helping another put on a sweater.

"You should be independent and self- reliant," says one girl, playing the part of the mother. "If you will manage your life, you will be a very good person."

Finishing the assignment, the girls turn to the rest of the class and explain, "Most American parents try to get children to make their own choices and be independent."

The subject of the class is "United States American Culture," but its purpose is much broader -- to help foreign students learn English. It is one of many classes taught throughout the year under the university's American Language Pro gram.

"It's a program that is designed for international students to prepare them for college by giving them an excellent language course," said John Driscoll, the program's director.

Many of the program's students are interested in more than learning the English lan guage. Some need proficiency in the language to go on to study at Cal State Hayward as exchange students or to enter the American work force.

As a result, program officials seek to offer students more than a grasp of the English language -- the students need to under stand American life as well.

Class topics range from U.S. history to American film and music. Other classes teach students the jargon of specific subjects, such as business communication and "computer Eng lish."

Julisa Chu, a Taiwanese student in the program, says the classes have helped her "avoid culture shock," although she added that it has been difficult because she "never lived with Americans before."

"The main idea is to learn more about America," she said of what she hopes to gain from her experience.

Most students obtain a strong understanding of the language within three to six months in the program, although that varies depending on how much English they speak coming into it, said Cynthia Kingsbury, an instructor in the program.

"It all depends on how much they came with," she said. "Ev <007 . 0008.09> eryone who comes to this pro gram comes with some basic knowledge. We don't have any absolute beginners here."

But the program also offers something for American students at the university -- the chance to learn about a foreign culture.

The Speaking Partners program, run by instructor Karen Privitt, sets foreign and American students together for conversations on whatever subjects they choose.

"You can travel to another country and have very little contact with that culture. This is an opportunity for students to be able to talk in some depth with people from other countries and learn about their perspectives," Privitt said. "It's been very posi tively received on both sides."

While the program is designed to assist people of all nationalities, Driscoll says the ethnicities of students in it are "market driven."

The program currently en rolls a large number of Asian students, especially Koreans. The number of Middle Eastern students has dwindled since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Dris coll added.

"We're just like any international education program -- we're the prey of international events," he said. "It won't be too long before we have Iraqis on campus."