Learn and Serve

It is the mission of the KSU Department of Foreign Languages to provide students with opportunities for developing linguistic and cultural skills. The Modern-Language & Culture After-School Program (MLC-ASP) is a collaborative initiative between KSU and local elementary and middle schools in which supervising faculty guide KSU undergraduates to design and facilitate language and culture instruction in the schools. Participating undergraduates may earn partial course credit by assisting in the MLC-ASP and by completing assignments specified in a Learn & Serve contract.

About Learn and Serve

The students who participate in this program, do so out of their own desire to further the education of young students.  It is strictly a volunteer program, and the students offer their time to these young children at no cost. Children who participate in this program enjoy themselves and have fun while they learn, a reason why many chldren choose to return to the program.  There is one class every week lasting between eight and twelve weeks.  The classes run for approximately one hour after classes end in the afternoon.

Languages Offered

The Learn and Serve program that encourages students to teach for the MLC-ASP program includes two different languages:  German and French.  The German volunteers participate at Big Shanty Elementary School and Kennesaw Charter School, while the French program volunteers participate at Pitner Elementary and Awtrey Middle Schools.  Both programs are very beneficial in their own way.  At the elementary school level, the language programs are focused on the teaching of the language itself, while the middle school levels are based on culture, more than the language itself.

Why Students Volunteer for the Program

Students that volunteer for this program do so for many different reasons.  The most common reason, however, is that they often find it helps them excel in their own language studies.  The language classes at Kennesaw State University are centered around two main aspects in any language:  written skills and the verbal skills.  The volunteers in the program often notice their verbal skills greatly increase over the period of time that they teach with the Learn and Serve Program.