What is a Language Assistant?
Rewarding Overseas Teaching Job for University Students & Graduates
May 21, 2009
At high schools, colleges, and universities, one fantastic resource is a native speaker of a foreign language known as a language assistant. What are the basic duties of a language assistant? What sort of lifestyle does the job involve? Most importantly, what is the best way to go about finding a job as a foreign language assistant abroad?
What is the Role of a Language Assistant?
A language assistant is not a full-fledged teacher. Basically, the assistant serves as a support system for the professors in the language department. For instance, an English language assistant is a member of the English department at a school, and collaborates with teachers within the department.
Basic Duties of a Foreign Language Assistant
The main focus for language assistants is conversation and extra help. Typically he or she will lead a discussion group at least once a week, or coordinate small group discussions during regular class time, under the guidance of a full-time teacher.
A Day in the Life of a Language Assistant in a High School
For a high school language assistant, classes typically start early in the day. A language assistant may spend anywhere from two to three hours to five or six at the school. A language assistant will most often be contributing to the class discussion through teaching all or part of the class, take small groups of students aside for conversation, or serve as an extra evaluator for student presentations and projects, supporting the efforts of the teacher supervising the class.
A Day in the Life of a Language Assistant at a College or University
For a college language assistant, he or she is expected to keep office hours in order to be available for extra help. The language assistant also participates in language department-related activities, such as a language table in the dining hall and movie nights. Typically the assistant also leads at least one or two conversation groups.
How to Find a Language Assistant Job
If a job as a foreign language assistant sounds enticing, here are a few ways to research and try to secure a position:
- Directly through foreign ministries of education, which often offer a certain number of academic year-long teaching assistantships
- Through the Fulbright program
- Through an agreement with your college/university and a college/university abroad
Language assistant positions for U.S. citizens are typically offered to recent college graduates and require at least a Bachelor's degree. Typically UK students may work abroad as a language assistant for a semester or year as a part of a foreign language degree program.
Language assistants at universities may be completing a year abroad as part of an exchange program at the home university. Many universities in the United States, for instance, have partnerships with universities in other countries, and those universities send native speakers of foreign languages to the U.S. to serve as language assistants. Students interested in this sort of opportunity should consult an academic advisor.
A foreign language assistant is a valuable resource in any language department. Not only does the language assistant have native-level fluency, but he or she also has firsthand experience with the culture of a country in which his or her native language is spoken. A language assistant provides cultural insights to teachers and students, and also benefits from being immersed in the culture of the host country. For anyone looking for a memorable teaching and learning experience, a semester or year as a language assistant in another country is a fantastic possibility to consider.
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