We are into the second week of workshops at Culpeper and things look good so far. Yesterday afternoon Crew member Toby Tong gave a great workshop on LiveMocha, a website which helps language learners in their acquisition process by providing mini-courses in many languages, but more importantly connects the language learners with competent speakers of the target language. English speakers are in demand all over the world, so it should be no problem for interested Gustavus students to find language exchange partners. One thing which I thought was interesting was an effective feedback system on writing/speaking practice from language partners, and a list of a number of topics to discuss.
Toby is a delight to have with us and his unique personality lent for a great workshop. One of my favorite parts was when he was discussing how he learned English and how he first learned English in China he learned it with a British Accent. He then briefly switched over to his British accent and it was very impressive! Toby knows multiple languages and is a good example of a motivated language learner for us all.
We are trying to find out the best ways to encourage workshop attendance and connect to the student and faculty populations on campus. One possible way is to require foreign language students to attend. I am trying this out this semester by having my Spanish 102 students attend two workshops of their choice. Following each workshop they write a response in Spanish on the class Moodle site about what they have learned and how it is going to help them in life/in their language learning. With time I hope that Workshops become popular enough / useful enough that we will be “busting at the hems” with attendees!
Come with a friend to a workshop today!
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