The Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures is a non-profit organization operating under the Provost’s Office at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

Hanover, NH Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Engi ...

. The goal of the Rassias Center is “to promote cultural understanding and to strengthen communication among people around the world.”

Founding

The Rassias Center was founded by John A. Rassias, William R. Kenan Professor of French and Italian at Dartmouth College. The Center was established in collaboration with the Provost’s Office in 1981. It began as a Language Outreach as a separate

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

operating within Dartmouth College. In 2007 The Rassias Foundation became Dartmouth College’s Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures and was absorbed by Dartmouth as a department under the Provost’s Office.

Programs

The Center’s Accelerated Language Programs (ALPs) operate every summer on the Dartmouth Campus. These 10-day immersive programs are designed to wholly engage participants in the target language. In addition, the Rassias Center runs Community Language Programs throughout the year for residents of the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

Upper Valley in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. The center also hosts teacher workshops and language trainings for educators and learners around the world. Currently, the Rassias Center offers the following programs: * Teacher Workshop in the Rassias Method - A five-day workshop occurring during the month of July that familiarizes attendees with more than 50 techniques fundamental to the Method. * ALPS (Accelerated Language Programs) on the Dartmouth College Campus during the months of June and July * ESL in China - Short-term English teaching programs based in

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. * IAPE (Inter-American Partnership for Education) - Teacher training opportunities and workshops across

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in collaboration with

Worldfund Worldfund is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 that delivers training and ongoing support to teachers and principals from underserved schools in Latin America. It operates 3 different programs: ''LISTO'', a principal leadership program, ...

. * Community Language Programs - six to eight-week language education programs occurring three times a year (fall, winter, spring) in alignment with academic quarters at Dartmouth.

The Rassias Method

A key component of the educational programs offered at the Rassias Center is the Rassias Method (RM), a teaching approach developed by John Rassias that emphasizes high response rate and elements of theatrics to get learners speaking the target language as early as possible. The emphasis of the drill sessions “is spoken language and familiarity with the culture of the country whose language is being studied. The classroom techniques involved are rapid-paced, theatrical, highly creative, imaginative, and necessitate great quantities of enthusiasm. John Rassias began his work formalizing the RM during Dartmouth’s long affiliation with the

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summer orientation programs. The RM became part of Dartmouth College in 1967. A signature of the RM at Dartmouth is the mentoring of Assistant Teachers (ATs), who meet with students of the target language to conduct daily drills in small group sessions. Assistant Teachers are nominated by Dartmouth language professors and receive training in the method from the Rassias Center. The process involves many layers of mentorship through which the ATs receive training and guidance from the center, master teachers and professors.

Collaborations

The Rassias Center works in conjunction with numerous other organizations, such as the Inter-American Partnership for Education, US China Scitach Education Promotion Association Inc., Greater Lawrence Family Help Center, and UC San Diego Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies to accomplish its mission.

References

{{reflist Charities based in New Hampshire Academic language institutions