A new English teaching program is looking for candidates at ASU.
The International Language Academy is expanding the Teaching English as a Second Language program to Phoenix after 15 years of running the program at its other locations in Germany, Japan and Mexico.
Applications for the program started this week and continue until March 4.
"We are expanding to Phoenix because the Hispanic and English communities are so close, yet so far apart because there are few people that speak both languages," said Russell Brydon, director of the International Language Academy. "Hopefully our [program's] students will bring the two communities closer together."
He said the program targeted ASU students because he felt there were many students who want to continue their foreign language studies or want to travel abroad.
The program offers students a chance to teach in more than 30 different languages.
Students are able to receive their diploma or certification in the program after they complete a required internship where they teach other students to speak English as a second language.
Undeclared freshman Nick Arambula said he might be interested in the program.
"I might do it because it would help me learn more about the Hispanic culture, since I already speak a little Spanish," he said.
"I think this program is a good idea because it would help students that speak English as a first language to broaden their horizons and learn more about other cultures," he added.
Carmen Garcia-Fernandez, associate professor for the Spanish program at ASU, said she would encourage her students to get involved in the program.
"We have a program here where students teach Spanish to the community, but I think this would be a fantastic thing to do because there are a number of people who don't speak English, my mother specifically," Garcia-Fernandez said. "Anything that is teaching English as a second language is fantastic."
The academy has several organizations offering scholarships to learn English. These organizations include: the Mexican Consulate, Chicanos Por La Causa-- The Battered Wives Unit and Friendly House.
"By giving these scholarships in English instruction to less privileged [students], we are giving back to our foreign community, as are the students who will be teaching the classes through their required internships," said Patrick Bearden, the program coordinator.
Tuition for the program is $1,250 for certification and $2,200 for a diploma. Both programs include five-hour language training in etiquette, culture and customs, and a scholarship toward any language course at the International Language Academy.
The program guarantees students a job overseas to use what they have learned at ASU when they use the program's outlined guidelines for employment applications, Bearden said.
Reach the reporter at jourdan.rassas@asu.edu.
