GLN Teachers are Amazing

Author: Ben Mericli, Student

The first step to being good at what you do is to love it. GLN teachers love sharing their life stories and languages. GLN finds them the space and the students to do so, but their compensation is the satisfaction of a course well taught.

When I took my first class at GLN three years ago, I quickly learned that there was something different about teachers who thrive on this kind of compensation. They fill their students with just as much enthusiasm about their language as they do knowledge of it.

But maybe knowledge isn’t the right word, because one of the biggest challenges to being a GLN teacher is teaching students the way most research suggests it should be taught: through immersion. Immersive teaching takes a special sharpness and an uncommon empathy on the part of the teacher, and not just anyone can do it. Committing to teaching with GLN means you’re committing to finding that drive inside yourself, and keeping it going for twelve weeks. When you love teaching enough to do that, you’re bound to be great at it.

This #GivingTuesday help GLN support our network of dedicated Teaching Volunteers.

Ben Mericli, GLN StudentGLN languages: French, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Persian (three levels), and Kyrgyz