Fatema Ali Asghar
International Relations Major
The Intersectionality of Foreign Languages and Education
Reese 304
This summer I interned at the International Language Institute of Massachusetts, a private, not-for-profit language school located in Northampton, Massachusetts. Its mission is to promote intercultural understanding by providing high-quality language instruction and teacher training. As an intern, my responsibility was to create unconventional activities and facilitate out-of-class socialization to help students practice their English, Arabic, and Urdu language skills. The multilingual environment was conducive to both foreign language learning and collaboration with young and old learners. Also, being given the opportunity to manage administrative projects, I revamped the organization’s customer relationship management software, Salesforce, to construct a methodical way to systemize its mentor-student-client information base. It gave me the confidence to pitch my ideas to principal advisors and develop complex organizational and logistical skills. Overall, the Language Institute gave me an unforgettable and invaluable insight into the workings of the practical and administrative aspects of language learning.
