Carthage Target Language Experts come from all over the world to enrich students’ learning

Carthage’s Modern Languages Department Target Language Experts, or TLEs, provide an enriching experience of language learning to students.

TLEs are young, international university graduates who teach their respective native languages at Carthage. This allows our students to converse with native speakers of their chosen language and to learn about the language’s culture from a primary source.

The 2022-23 TLEs have come from all across the globe, including Spain, Japan, Canada, Taiwan, Germany, Lebanon, Colombia, and Mexico! During their stay at Carthage, TLEs live on campus in a small, international community, and they are paired with a host family to make the most of their time in the United States. They teach introductory and conversation courses to students, and many take courses in Carthage’s graduate program to complete a Master of Education.

Chih-Hsuan “Lily” Tsao Chih-Hsuan “Lily” Tsao, a TLE from Taiwan, teaches Chinese courses. She wants her students “to know more about Asia” overall and, more specifically, that “Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore are speaking Chinese, too. The Chinese culture has subtly impacted Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures as well.”

Lily is happy to aid Carthage students in their exposure to Eastern culture and says that, through teaching, she has been able to reflect more on how she identifies with her own culture. It reminds her of a Chinese saying that translates to “to teach is to learn.”