By now, almost everyone has at least heard of the addictive letter guessing game Wordle, whether you play it or not. It is so popular, that it is being copied in other languages. Here’s just a few of them for you to practice your vocabulary with. If you don’t see your language, you can search the internet – it is probably there!
🏴 Play Wordle in Hawaiian
TLC Executive Director Janice Rodriguez participated as a member of the Tennessee delegation for the “Virtual Language Advocacy Days 2022: Language at the Intersection” held Feb. 2-4. The annual event is sponsored by the JNCL-NCLIS (Join National Committee for Languages and the National Council for Languages and International Studies).
Janice and the Tennessee delegation met with legislative representatives from the offices of Tennessee’s U.S. Senators Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn, and U.S. Representatives Mark Green, Jim Cooper, and Tim Burchett, to discuss the most pressing issues facing language education policy. Of particular interest to TLC was JNCL-NCLIS’s support for the passage of the Senate version of the Advancing International and Foreign Language Education Act (HR 2940/S. 1453) and the authorization of the Biliteracy Educational Seal and Teaching (BEST) Act (S. 680/HR 1731).
Richard Ponce de Leon from TLC participated in the panel discussion “Workforce Inclusion Impacting Workplace Safety” at the 2021 Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference held Nov. 2 in Murfreesboro. Richard addressed how language barriers can impact workplace safety. Attendees included TN employers, insurance adjusters, self-insurers, third party administrators, safety and human resource managers, plaintiff and defense attorneys, health care providers, mediators, nurse case managers, and medical and vocational rehabilitation providers.
TLC is dedicate to facilitating intercultural communication, and as workforce demographics evolve, overcoming language barriers reduces liability risks associated with workplace injury and death.
Only Together Conference 2019
Last month, Woodmont Hills Church hosted the Only Together Conference aimed at connecting Nashville’s refugee service groups to each other. It presented a great opportunity to learn more about the refugees who make Nashville their home and the services available to them, to network with other agencies and to share about TLC’s programs. Erin Keafer, Assistant Director of English Programs at TLC, highlighted our ESL to Go program, which takes the classroom to refugee communities and helps to eliminate the transportation barrier. Since many of the volunteers in attendance teach informal English to the refugees who they mentor, we wanted to remind them what it’s like to sit on the other side of the desk.
Heather Seybold teaching a German lesson to the audience.
When we talk about teaching our new neighbors English, it’s good to be reminded of how humbling the process of learning a new language as an adult can be. We thought it might be better to show rather than to tell, which also gave us an opportunity to talk about our Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) and World Language courses. I presented a German lesson using NO English! “What?!!”, you say, “How is that possible??” Well, it’s the difference between explaining the grammar in English or teaching the target language phrases in context. Your brain is MUCH more engaged when it has to work not only to remember the phrase but to understand its meaning based on context. This is what sets our communicative approach apart from traditional teaching methods.
Many of our ESL students don’t share the same primary language in the classroom, so we must teach them in English using different methods that explain the meaning of the words rather than just presenting the vocabulary in the language they are most comfortable speaking. If you have ever experienced teaching or learning a new language using the communicative method, it sounds much easier to do than it is—both as a student and a teacher. The TESL program at TLC helps set teachers up for success using these effective teaching methods.
So let this serve as an invitation. Come learn a language with us or learn how to teach a language — we’d love to help! Only together can we make a difference.
Learn more today by visiting www.tlc.tennessee.edu or calling us at 615-741-7579.
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