World Languages and Cultures Students Build Communities through Teaching

It is often said that the best way to master a language is to teach it, and Montclair students are proving the endless cultural value of teaching in various community settings both in New Jersey and abroad.

German 

Locally, the 17 students in Montclair’s award-winning German program have just started a new season teaching in the SPARK for German KinderUni program, part of a national network of over 150 community teaching labs that introduce children to basic German vocabulary through songs, games, STEM crafts, and more. Faculty mentors ensure that student instructors gain valuable professional skills in collaboration, material creation, organization, public-facing communication, and work with diverse audiences – skills that students can apply in any professional field after graduation. Many of the Montclair SPARK program’s former college student participants credit SPARK for German with the skills they used to land positions at Audi, internships with the UN, travel grants from the United States Teaching in Austria program, spots in paid Fulbright English teaching assistantships after graduation, or as teachers in local schools. Building on the program’s role as a hub for local German networking, students also frequently take on immersion childcare positions, tutoring work, and other language education gigs facilitated by mentor faculty.

French

Montclair French students are also strikingly active building cultural and linguistic bridges in local and international communities. Students working on the “Phares Haïtiens” Haitian Poetry Project have presented their work in local libraries and other educational settings. It is perhaps no coincidence that a number of Montclair students have recently won coveted TAPIF scholarships to travel and teach in France for a year after graduation, sometimes choosing to do graduate study, work, and live in Europe for years afterwards. Montclair is also one of the strongest educators of New Jersey French teachers, with graduates of Montclair’s French BA and MA programs teaching in many of the townships surrounding the campus. A particular French educational highlight is the annual campus French Day, which often brings together as many as 400 local middle and high school students, their teachers (many of whom are alumni), alumni in other sectors, undergraduates, graduates, and professors. In the spirit of “everybody teaches, everybody learns,” workshops are typically co-led by a team of professors and alumni, with support from undergraduate students. “I love seeing the full pipeline of learners and teachers all in one place, playing with the language, immersing themselves, and modeling deep cultural exploration,” says French Professor Pascale LaFountain.

Asian Languages

Montclair’s lively Chinese, Japanese, and Korean programs pride themselves on interactive playful classes that encourage authentic engagement with popular media and culture, as students learn not just to speak, but also to sing, dance, prepare food, collaborate with local Asian American Pacific Islander advocacy organizations, and immerse themselves in Asian cultures. After graduation, students of Japanese often take their skills on the road by teaching English in Japan through the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET). For example, Cara Rosner ’21 and Stephanie Vincitore ’19 are currently Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) at an elementary school and a junior high school. Cara has cultivated strong bonds with the local Japanese community through her Japanese skills: “I’ve created lifelong friends and memories that I’ll never forget!” Some alumni continue their passion for promoting linguistic and cultural exchange after working as ALTs. Tatiana Figarola ’23 was an English teacher in Osaka, while Christopher Mack ’05 works at the Hirakata Board of Education. Jena Greco ’15 is a manga translation coordinator in Tokyo after passing the JLPT N2 exam. Japanese faculty member Yahui Olenik praises alumni for using Japanese in their workplaces: “We are very proud of Jena’s accomplishment in using Japanese and English while working among native speakers!”

Italian

Montclair’s Italian program also serves as a community hub for all things related to Italian teaching and culture. The Italian program has a rich teaching tradition and a vibrant network of alumni, many of whom teach in local schools, cultural centers, and other venues. For 17 years, the Italian Program and Coccia Institute have co-hosted a signature October event, Teaching Italian, which is led almost entirely in Italian since it is one of the few American teacher professional development programs that is focused on Italian. This annual symposium welcomes approximately 90 Italian teachers from around the country to campus. Many of the participants are Montclair teacher education students, undergraduate volunteers curious about teaching, and graduates. All share in discussion about the newest pedagogical innovations and the growing need for world language education today.

Dr. Enza Antenos, a professor of Italian and the symposium chair who has played many leadership roles in the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) and who also leads Montclair’s innovative interdisciplinary major in Language, Business & Culture, notes, “It is so exciting to see our students enrolled in the Italian teacher education program working alongside established alumni for the day, seeing what a rewarding career could await them after graduation.” The Italian Summer Intensive Program for Early College Credit also fosters a sense of community. Led by a Montclair alumna and promoted by the many alumni teaching in the area, the program not only brings high school students to campus, but gives them opportunities to work alongside college students, alumni professionals, often participating in cooking, site visits, or other collaborative explorations. The Montclair Italian program casts itself as an essential link in the “full circle” of local Italian teaching and learning and see this in action, every fall, high school students from around the region, some of whom themselves aspire to become Italian teachers, drop in on Italian classes, testing the waters to join one of the most active Italian programs in the region.

Preparing for the World

As international collaboration increases from year to year and the need for effective global diplomacy with international partners has never been greater, the need for multilingualism continues to grow. When students return to classes each fall, new students enter language classes and new future teachers discover their own spark to share language and culture with the next generation.

Montclair students’ commitment to balance majors and minors, or often double majors in a language and another field, makes students especially versatile and creative candidates for post-graduate positions. Many students also note that interviewers for graduate schools, scholarships, and work positions mention their community engagement and teaching experience as assets for career preparation.

Whether teaching or tutoring in the towns of New Jersey or immersing themselves in the career-launching experience of paid travel and teaching after graduation, Montclair students across the languages build communities through education while also opening doors to influential careers in professional settings of all sorts.