Our Mission
The Global Language Network (GLN) is a DC-based 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization whose mission is to use language as a tool to help fix our world.
The Global Language Network (GLN) is a DC-based 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization whose mission is to “use language as a tool to help fix our world.” Many people wish to solve local, domestic, and global issues but not everyone has the tools. At GLN, we believe that the first and most fundamental tool for solving any issue is communication. GLN provides hundreds of language classes in dozens of languages in order to help adults of all ages gain and improve upon communication skills in a foreign language. At GLN we believe improving communication is the first step towards understanding other people and helping resolve personal, professional, local, domestic, and global problems.
At GLN, we provide opportunities to learn any language at a minimal cost.
GLN is a community where people learn, share and connect. We offer affordable language classes in more than 60 languages, using a communicative approach that builds our learners’ communication skills in an interactive and enjoyable environment.
How are we able to promote language learning in so many languages at a fraction of the market price? We recruit and train native speakers who volunteer their time to teach their language and share their culture with the greater DC community. Through our Teaching Fellowship, we develop our teachers as educators and community leaders.
GLN’s vision is to create a network of givers, for givers, by givers.
Thanks to the support of thousands of members, GLN has been training and empowering individuals to teach classes in their native language. GLN continues to recruit volunteers with the highest potential for leadership to give their time and expertise in helping grow and build the organization.
GLN envisions a peaceful and cooperative world where individuals can both value their own heritage while also respecting, embracing, and learning from those who are different from them. Our vision is based on the premise that language is a fundamental tool that unlocks human potential and empowers people to transcend cultural barriers and make a positive impact in a changing global society. Language offers new perspectives, broadens horizons and enriches lives because it enables individuals to establish invaluable connections around the globe.
In order to realize our vision, we aim to establish a diverse network of lifelong language learners within the United States and abroad.
Underlying everything GLN does are the values that describe our character as an organization and community
CULTURAL DIVERSITY: We celebrate all languages and cultures by promoting an environment where individuals from various cultural backgrounds communicate, interact, and learn from one another. GLN opens doors and builds bridges between people who share fruitful cross-cultural experiences.
DYNAMISM: We are proactive and maintain an energetic and flexible environment that enhances effective practices and innovations. GLN engages passionate individuals, committed to our mission, who instill that passion in others.
SYNERGY: We aim to foster an organizational culture of collaboration, sharing, and volunteerism, where the synergy of our stakeholders builds the foundation for growth and fulfillment.
FUN: We believe languages are fun and, therefore, language learners are fun. We promote an enjoyable culture in which GLNers unite and interact through their shared passion for world languages and cultures.
Our History
In 2005, Andrew Brown founded The Global Language Network in his life-long mission of making the world a better place. After seeing a wide range of global issues plaguing communities around the world, Andrew concluded that the one common factor was that there was a fundamental lack of communication between people and that if we could make greater efforts to communicate and understand the other side it would greatly assist in reducing conflict and otherwise assist in solving problems. Andrew founded GLN to engage the community, share his passion for languages with others and address the growing need for accessible, affordable language education. Andrew realized the power that language has to break down barriers and build communities and the mission he establish with GLN, of “using language as a tool to help fix our world” has been the guiding light for GLN and the inspiration for GLN’s constantly growing network.
While Andrew is the Founder and President of GLN, he credits much of the organization’s growth and success to the many devoted teachers and other volunteers who have contributed and allowed him to build GLN to what it is today.