TLC Teacher Joy Stalnaker is one of the nine finalists for the 2024 Teacher of the Year in Louisiana, where she teaches at the Myrtle Place Elementary School in LaFayette Parish. Joy also teaches French online for TLC.
TLC has been approved as a designated testing site for the 日本漢字能力検定, Nihon Kanji Nōryoku Kentei; The Japan Kanji Aptitude Test, also known as Kanji Kentei, or Kanken for short. TLC is only one of four approved locations in the U.S. The Kanken is one of the most highly respected student certifications recognized in Japan and is a project sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The Kanken evaluates a student’s ability to read, write, and understand Kanji, a system of Japanese writing using Chinese characters. The test is administered by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation and will be proctored by TLC Japanese instructors.
TLC is very pleased to announce we have a new Assistant Director of World Languages, Mauricio Lopera.
Mauricio has a degree in Teaching English and Spanish from Luis Amigó Catholic University and a TESOL certification from Arizona State University. He has been a language instructor for more than 16 years – including teaching Spanish for TLC. He also recently coordinated a language program in Colombia that was overseen by the U.S. Department of State through the U.S. embassy in Bogota.
Welcome Mauricio!
The Tennessee Language Center and Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee partnered to provide Spanish language classes for Second Harvest staff, volunteers, and partners. Hear more about it on the latest episode of In Touch with Tennessee, “Bridging Language Barriers in Community Service.” Listen.
Brian Barnett and Maya Campbell from TLC’s World Languages department participated in the annual Tennessee World Languages Teaching Association (TWLTA) conference. In addition to promoting our Spanish and Arabic for Educators programs, Brian also presented “Enriching the World Languages Curriculum: Incorporating Language Varieties and Registers,” as one of the conference workshops.
TLC’s Director of World Languages Brian Barnett is consulting with Meraki Learning Center about developing a world language curriculum for its students. Meraki is a unique homeschool and enrichment center in Nashville tailored to the learning needs and interests of its students. Brian is also working with the French instructor to develop activities for several students with proficiency in French at Meraki. This work will help Meraki develop a well-planned world languages component to its curriculum to facilitate learning and enrich the language experiences of its students.
Dr. Brian Barnett, TLC’s Director of World Languages, presented a professional development workshop to Clarksville-Montgomery County School System world languages teachers in February. The workshop was part of their in-service day, and focused on facilitating target language comprehensibility. This is the third professional development workshop he has done for them.
TLC is proud of the Spanish for Educators program created by the World Languages team for receiving the University of Tennessee’s Institute for Public Service Vice Presidential Citation. This award recognizes a special effort by staff members who go above and beyond normal job assignments or have worked relentlessly on a complex project. Congratulations to Brian Barnett, Jack Willey, Maya Campbell, and Stasie Harrington for their work on creating this course.
Spanish for Educators was created for K-12 teachers, school staff, and administrators with very little to no previous Spanish study to develop cultural understanding and a basic repertoire of conversation skills to engage with Spanish speakers in their schools and local communities. It is offered four times a year. Contact worldlanguages@tennessee.edu for more information.
Fall Enrollment is here!
Register before Sept. 26 for our Early Bird 10% discount (use code EARLYFA22 at checkout).
Find out what our current students already know – our classes are awesome! We hope you will join us.