Global Language Network - Building a Foundation for Global Communication

why it's important:

After my bar-mitzvah at the age of 13 my Rabbi asked me what I would do towards the important Jewish principle of “tikkun olam” (fixing the world). I didn’t know.

At 17 I realized that I had to first communicate with people in order to understand their needs, and that the most fundamental aspect of communication is language. I began learning languages to connect with people from different cultures. I learned over 20 languages, 7 of which I taught in a number of countries. My search for purpose led me to working in Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi, volunteering with a safe house for women and children in Dubai, and participating in charity and volunteer efforts for over a dozen organizations in various parts of the world.

In my search I came to realize that nothing was as meaningful to me as teaching people to communicate in a foreign language, that I was blessed with a gift for learning and teaching languages, and that I should use this gift to help people. From my experiences abroad, I also realized that without the ability to communicate with people in their language it’s difficult to solve the most basic problems, let alone to truly understand their needs and earn their trust.

To that end and with the principle of “tikkun olam” in mind, I chose to pursue a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration on Not-for-Profit Management. I wanted to build a charity that would help “fix the world.” I discovered that less than 5% of the world population is born speaking English and realized that if Americans want to understand and cooperate with the other 95% of the world, we will have to learn to communicate in languages other than English. In 2005 I founded a student organization and in 2008 incorporated it as Global Language Network (GLN), a 501(c)3 not-for-profit, that provides much needed language training to the Washington, DC community.

GLN’s mission is to promote global understanding, cooperation and achievement by building people’s foreign language skills and cross-cultural competence. What makes GLN unique from other language service providers is that we offer free language classes in over 50 languages using an innovative learning approach.

Our model is supported by three pillars: our volunteer teacher base, deposit system and immersion methodology.
GLN teachers are a rich and diverse group of native speakers who volunteer their time because they are passionate about sharing their language and culture with others. Their involvement allows us to offer classes in 20-30 languages each semester including all languages deemed ‘critical’ by the US government.

Our deposit system requires students to put down $150 in order to register for a class. This helps manage class enrollment and encourages regular attendance. Students are entitled to receive their deposit in full if they miss no more than three classes throughout the semester. Through end-of-semester donations and forfeited deposits GLN retains 20% of the total deposit amount which makes the program sustainable.

The GLN approach is influenced by my eight years of experience learning and teaching foreign languages, and is based on the renowned linguist Dr. Stephen Krashen’s Second Language Acquisition theory. GLN applies Dr. Krashen’s theory by offering immersion classes which expose students to the target language in a comfortable and interactive environment. At GLN learning a language is easy and enjoyable: we engage our students and build their confidence to communicate effectively and appropriately.

Washington, DC has over 700 not-for-profits with an international scope and one of the highest concentrations of international NGOs in the world (National Center for Charitable Statistics). GLN positively impacts this community by providing much needed language services to a diverse workforce. Students gain a foundation in a language, develop their skills and use them in a personal and/or professional context. We positively impact our teachers by providing them the opportunity to share their language and improve their leadership, management and interpersonal skills. Furthermore, we positively impact national and international communities because each student uses his or her newly acquired language skills and cultural awareness to build personal and professional relationships at home and abroad. This reflects our focus on the human element where teachers become community leaders and students become change makers.

the plan of action:

Since September 2005 GLN has offered 384 classes in 58 languages to nearly 3,500 students. Currently, GLN offers 30-35 classes in 20-30 languages, serving 500 students every semester.

With virtually no advertising we receive over 1,000 class registration requests. Some choose GLN because they don’t have viable alternatives: classes in DC are prohibitively expensive or simply not available (for instance, classes in less commonly taught languages such as Nepali or Haitian Creole). Others choose GLN because they prefer our innovative approach.

GLN students are 18 to 80 years old and come from a range of educational, professional and ethnic backgrounds. Many of them work for the World Bank, the Red Cross, Booz Allen Hamilton, Peace Corps, Organization of American States, the US government and many other small or large organizations. As we strengthen and diversify our program, we will approach such organizations, offer specialized classes to their employees and impact both their lives and the lives of the people they work with and serve.

One of the many examples is our student, Jen, who took an Albanian class and used her language skills to win a Fulbright Scholarship to go to Albania to make a documentary series about youth identity and politics while interning with UNICEF. In Albania Jen developed a strong bond with her GLN teacher’s 85-year-old aunt whom she affectionately calls ‘grandma’. One GLN Albanian class not only impacted Jen’s life, but the lives of her teacher, her 85-year-old ‘grandma’ as well as the greater local Albanian community that Jen and UNICEF serve on a daily basis.

Our students aren’t the only ones who are positively impacted by our program. GLN has trained over 300 teachers who went on to teach one or more classes. They learned new skills while imparting their language and culture to others. One powerful example is Julia, our Quechua teacher, who is fulfilling a personal goal to preserve her cultural heritage and endangered language by teaching it to 15 students every semester.

GLN has set three strategic goals for the next two years:
• Improve language services by strengthening language curriculum and methodology
• Expand services to offer more classes in more languages and thus reach more people
• Diversify services by offering custom classes for NGOs, government agencies and businesses

Within two years GLN will be a well-established, sustainable organization with 7 years of experience, a ‘one-stop-shop’ for language classes in Washington, DC. Looking ahead we will seek to replicate this model across the United States and eventually, around the world.

how you can get involved:

There are many ways people can support my cause.

We constantly recruit native speakers to volunteer their to teach and share their language.

We are also seeking to secure low-cost classroom space in Washington, DC. If anyone has ideas about universities, schools, community centers or other places that might be willing to host GLN classes, let me know!

We are also looking for volunteers with experience in fundraising and curriculum development.

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