General Resources | Foreign Language Resources

TIPS FOR SUCCESS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION

• It is very important to meet with your advisor on a regular basis in order to be sure that you are meeting all the requirements for licensure and graduation.
• Faculty advisors post their office hours on their office doors. Please contact them during office hours or leave a phone message (770) 423-6366.
• Professional contacts are important! Several professional organizations have student rates. Join the Foreign Language Association of Georgia (FLAG), the American Council on the teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and either the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) or the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP).
• Your behavior while a student is an indicator of your behavior as a professional. Make sure to give your best effort to every class assignment.
• Seek feedback from your professors and incorporate that feedback into subsequent assignments.
• Participate in and contribute to meaningful class discussion.
• Maintain decorum in your interactions with university faculty and staff, school personnel, parents and students. Remember that these individuals will be your professional references in the future.
• Talk with practicing teachers. Seek professional mentors.
• Practice your language skills. Travel, read aloud in the target languages, watch television and listen to the radio in the target language, talk with native speakers, join campus and community organizations, be a volunteer for an organization that needs your language skills, visit WEB sites to stay abreast of current events, and find some way to practice your target language EVERY DAY.
• Get an e-mail account.
• Keep all paperwork that pertains to your major.
• Learn how to organize well. Attend workshops on time management.