Several people working on calligraphy while sitting at a table while the instructor looks over their shoulders

TLC Attends Japanese Moon Viewing Event

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in partnerships with the Japanese Consulate General in Nashville, hosted a day of Japanese cultural activities and a moon viewing on Sept. 19. TLC Japanese Teachers Naoko Takeda and Tomi Kowamura taught a Japanese calligraphy class, and TLC Executive Director Janice Rodriguez and World Languages Coordinator Jack Willey set up and manned an information table throughout the event to promote our Japanese and other World Language classes.

 

ESL to Go Logo

ESL to Go Receives $93,000 Grant

TLC’s ESL to Go program has received a $93,000 grant from the Tennessee Office for Refugees through Catholic Charities. ESL to Go offers free English as a Second Language classes to approved asylees, refugees, and people with Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) that have been in the U.S. five years or less.

Classes are offered online, and ESL to Go also has a classroom on wheels that can travel to the apartment complexes where refugees live, eliminating the need for transportation to and from class. This grant will cover the cost for classes for around 170 students.

Screen grab showing Zoom call

First Online TESL Class Graduates

Prior to the pandemic, the Tennessee Language Center’s Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) teacher certification course offered 150 hours of instruction, far beyond the standard 100 hours, and included a 30-hour, in-person teaching practicum. Graduates who completed the program had an advantage obtaining jobs in the field because of this teaching experience. Because of the in-person practicum, the certification training had always been limited to students in the Middle Tennessee area.

This year, TLC made the decision to pilot a completely virtual TESL certification program. On Sept. 11, the first cohort of graduates from the all online TESL certification program graduated. This class is now available to anyone in Tennessee that wishes to get certified to teach English as a Second Language.

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Titan Up for TLC!

It’s Football Time in Tennessee. If you purchase your Tennessee Titan tickets using our link and the promo code “TLC”, we get $10 donated to us for each ticket and you get up to $25 off. (For specific games listed at link.)
Let’s go Titans!