Language Ambassadors - Center for Languages and Cultures

Language Ambassadors in 2023

This Spring, the CLC Outreach Committee developed a new initiative called Language Ambassadors. The intention behind the project is to establish a network of student representatives at USC who will share their experiences learning and using their respective target languages with local high school students and their families. The overarching goal of this initiative is to encourage the learning of world languages across all academic disciplines at USC and in the broader community while fostering a greater sense of cross-cultural understanding and appreciation. Before fully launching the initiative this coming Fall, the committee decided to run a small pilot. Several USC students had the chance to visit two local High Schools: USC Hybrid High School and Larchmont Charter School. The pilot was extremely successful; all USC student participants found the experience enjoyable and meaningful, and both school sites gave very positive feedback and expressed a desire for the program to continue. Due to this wonderful response, the committee will officially launch Language Ambassadors program in the Fall of 2023

Spring 2023 Student Ambassadors

Victor Falcon

Tinna Flores

Sofía Menk

Bianca Novak

Kailani Newton

Tadas Rackauskas

Arlene Reyes

Lily Ramirez

Sofia Villegas

Colin Yeo

The Language Ambassadors program provides opportunities for USC students to develop leadership skills, public speaking, community engagement and conduct outreach activities within USC and at local schools. The program aims to promote use of the target language in a real-world context outside the classroom.

Possible duties for Language Ambassadors could include:

to share their enthusiasm for languages with their peers, and spark interest for language education in the community.
to visit K-12 campuses in the Los Angeles area to share personal experiences, study abroad programs, language skills, and local knowledge (food, shopping, language and community-based resources).
to create activities and materials in the target language in order to reach a broader audience for the purpose of language learning.
to act as student representatives for their language on campus and outside campus.
to pass on institutional knowledge about language programs to new students.
to develop social media content.
to act as a contact point for alumni and current students.
to develop their language competencies through real-world interactions.
to provide drop-in peer tutoring for their departments.
to create contacts with established USC outreach programs like JEP.
to identify specific roles where they can contribute their skills.
To identify ideas and activities about how to connect to peers and the outside community.
to commit to at least a semester-long term as a Language Ambassador.

Student Ambassador Profile:
We are looking to identify students who can act as Language Ambassadors. A Language Ambassador can be any student at USC who has a language they wish to share. Our ambassadors are members of our communities who volunteer their time to help discover tips for language learning and connect with other members in the community through languages other than English and through cultures of interest. International students and business students with language competency are encouraged to apply. We also affirm the importance of heritage speakers (those who acquired their language in a home-setting) as being in a unique position to create ties between USC and their immediate communities. Language Ambassadors are students who, together with their families, schools and communities, recognize the value of multilingualism in our global economy and how it can contribute to our multicultural society. They connect people across languages and cultures and can identify the specific languages and age groups they wish to serve.

Please, contact Professor Mercedes Fages Agudo at fagesagu@usc.edu if you have questions or would like to join the program.