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The study of foreign languages and literature provides valuable experience and a potential edge for future career development for our students. Scientists and engineers function in a global market: they rely on primary sources published in other languages, attend international consortia, and often find themselves interacting across national, cultural, and linguistic borders. Government and industry often give preference to job applicants who are proficient in a foreign language. MIT students are encouraged to work and study abroad in conjunction with university, private, and public organizations. The faculty of the FL&L Section, the language coordinators, and the Undergraduate Academic Administrator can provide assistance in choosing an appropriate program and granting transfer credit from overseas or domestic programs. MIT provides a unique perspective on foreign languages because of the opportunities available to integrate the study of natural languages with the latest technological advances in multimedia and interactive learning. FL&L-affiliated faculty are exploring and implementing methods in which multimedia technology can be used to make learning a foreign language a more authentic experience.

The Teaching Foreign Languages workshop will help K-12 foreign language teachers improve their practice by making connections between the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning and current research in foreign language education. Workshop components include eight lively half-hour video programs with leading researchers and practicing teachers discussing how the standards play out in day-to-day classroom situations, a workshop guide available online and in print, and interactive activities on the Web.

I put some of my most useful lesson plans together in a web site, in case that Italian teachers around the world are looking for ideas for their classes.  Some activities are based on exercises from textbooks, some others are created to enlarge a topic that's been taught in class.  Although most of the activities are for Italian classes, some might be applied to other foreign languages.  Also, I will be posting news and more activities in the section "My posts".  I will be happy to include helpful suggestions coming from foreign language teachers.  If you'd like to share a useful activity, contact me and I will gladly publish it

How to search news in a foreign language using LexisNexis