As admissions loves to remind you, the language program at Dartmouth is pretty expansive. Most students participate in it as a way of fulfilling the College's language requirement, which falls in line with Dartmouth's emphasis on an international education. Even if you're one of the lucky few that is exempt from the requirement, you have probably been woken up by your roommate's alarm at the crack of dawn for 7:45 a.m. drill.
John Rassias, a French and Italian professor, developed the revolutionary language pedagogy known as the Rassias Method in 1964. It has been implemented all around the world, even being used by the Peace Corps to train new volunteers. Rassias found previous systems of language instruction ineffective, and he wanted to develop a strategy that incorporated energy, movement and excitement, he said.
"What matters most is that students experience the excitement of communicating in another language," Rassias said. "They take ownership of it. It is theirs. The attitude toward learning is vibrant."
Central to this method are "drill" sessions, which complement class time and focus on the student's oral communication skills in the target language. The incorporation of this component to the educational process is vital to the method, according to Rassias.
"[The students] speak the language in order to learn it, instead of learning the language in order to speak it," Rassias said.
He added that even something as basic as eye level is crucial to the efficacy of learning a new language. In training, drill instructors are taught to kneel down so that they are at the same eye level as the student in order to make the instructor less intimidating while increasing the likelihood that the student will go out on a limb and try pronouncing words that sound strange to them, he said.
Another crucial component of the system is the use of peer education. Apprentice teachers, or ATs, are students proficient in the target language that conduct drill sessions.
Pedro Hurtado Ortiz '14, a native of Nicaragua, decided to apply to be an AT his freshman fall because he had always had an interest in teaching. Although Spanish is his first language, Ortiz said that he learned a lot in training.
"At first, the method was hard to get," he said. "There is a whole psychology behind it. Students may not realize how much goes into it."
Natalia Zbib '14, who grew up speaking a Lebanese dialect of Arabic, took three terms of traditional Arabic before applying to be a drill instructor.
"When people invest themselves, you can see the progress," she said. "It can be really frustrating though, because a lot of the time people come late to every drill or don't come at all."
Many students take language classes and drill at Dartmouth in preparation for Language Study Abroad and Foreign Study Programs. These programs are designed to engage the students in not only a language, but also a culture and a lifestyle.
"We want the students to get into the world in active terms, not just as visitors," Rassias said.
Several students on Dartmouth study abroad programs said their classes at Dartmouth helped to enhance their experience.
"Classes at Dartmouth definitely accelerated my ability and confidence in conversational Spanish," Chris Given '14, who is currently on the Spanish LSA in Barcelona, said.
In contrast, Liz Cart '12, a past participant on the Barcelona LSA, said she was not satisfied with the language instruction at Dartmouth.
"I wasn't prepared at all," she said. "Thankfully, the program was organized once we got there, except for a few obstacles in the beginning."
Approaching its 50th year of existence, the Rassias Method has hardly changed since its inception. Although it was created during a time when demand for individuals proficient in many languages was extremely high, the system continues to serve a vital role today. But acquiring new languages also serves a more basic, seemingly less practical purpose.
"Living with one language is like being an artist with one color in his palette," Rassias said. "One language is one idea, and opinions come from language."
Next time your alarm goes off at 7:24 a.m., and all you want to do is throw it against the wall, try to think of drill as adding some color to your palette. How else are you going to order those tequila shots from the bar in Paris, anyway?
