The Cardinal

Elisa Kirschhoffer, Director of Professional Learning and Marketing, Idioma Education & Consulting

For world language educators, the first five minutes of class are often the most chaotic. Students arrive from different subjects, their minds trailing conversations from the hallway or stress from a chemistry test. As the teacher in those first five minutes, you’re taking attendance, reminding students to look at the board for the “Do Now” activity, answering the phone call from the office dismissing a student, all while a student from the previous class is waiting for you to catch them up on what they missed when they were absent. In a classroom where the goal is to communicate in a completely different language, this “transition turbulence” can derail learning before it even begins.

This is where the power of routine becomes transformative. Far from being “boring” or “repetitive,” a structured classroom environment provides the psychological safety and cognitive scaffolding necessary for high-level language acquisition.

Dr. Roger W. Anderson, Independent Scholar, Monterey, CA (USA)

The BLUF (Bottom Line, Up Front): The United Nations website offers trainings for diplomats and activists on a variety of globally important subjects, in all six official UN languages. These authentic, free tools can provide opportunities for unsimulated, contextualized vocabulary acquisition, appreciation of register, etc.

Suggested audience: Advanced learners and non-native instructors of Spanish, French, English, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, or Modern Standard Arabic

Actual audience: Activists, United Nations delegations and speakers at the United Nations

Tool: The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) trainings (www.unitar.org)

Kimberly Clifford, Assistant Professor of American Sign Language, University of Cincinnati, Clermont College

I am in a sometimes lovely and sometimes lonely stage of my life where there are no children under my roof. Lucky for me, they don’t live very far away. Even still, getting the three of us in the same space is much harder than when I was driving them places and providing their food every day.

I have made it a goal to share an experience with them each year that allows us to be together and learn something new. The pottery class the three of us took in 2024 was amazing! We all enjoyed it; however, their interests don’t overlap for many other options. So in 2025, I found myself agreeing to an exercise class with one (which turned out to be a great idea that was not implemented—unless you count one day working out in the gym side-by-side; we will have to try again this year). My other adult child talked me into taking an improv class. I was very reluctant as this felt way out of my comfort zone, but we actually had a great time! Kudos to Improv Cincinnati and our fabulous teacher, Colette! As a bonus, I gained some fantastic activity ideas to work into my classroom in the target language, four of which I will share with you here.

Organize a cultural field trip for your students to participate!

Jennifer Cochran-Mosquera, Spanish Teacher, Granville High School

Cooperative Interviews with Current Events in the Spanish Classroom

Renée Galvis, Spanish Educator–Dept. Chair, Tree of Life Christian Schools

In the past few weeks, my students have been deeply engaged in studying recent events in Venezuela. What stood out most was not only how much language they acquired, but how willingly and enthusiastically they worked together to do it. This sequence of activities combined current events, comprehensible input, and cooperative speaking in a way that felt meaningful, joyful, and doable—even within short class periods.

Many world language teachers are familiar with El Mundo en Tus Manos. For this unit, I used the special edition article “EE. UU. captura a Maduro,” which is currently free of charge on ComprehensibleClassroom.com.

Steven J. Sacco, Professor Emeritus, San Diego State University, and President of Sacco Global Consulting
Ashli Sambaluk, World Language Coordinator, Lewisville, Texas School District

“Africa is the continent of the future,” proclaimed French President Emmanuel Macron, and the need for French-speaking professionals in global business, philanthropy, diplomacy, sustainability, the military, and education has never been greater. Consequently, on August 7, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education awarded the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) a $114,972 grant to take a team of 14 curriculum development experts to Côte d’Ivoire to develop teaching units for K-16 French-language educators. 

The mission, as stated by AATF Executive Director Megan Diercks, was to “decolonize the French curriculum” in preparation for employment opportunities for our graduates in Francophone Africa. The interdisciplinary Francophone African curriculum includes language, culture, history, geography, economic and political systems, literature, art, music, dance, cooking, and storytelling. The modules and materials are designed to meet the current and future geopolitical and socioeconomic needs of the United States in Africa, where French speakers will be needed in great supply. Several economists predict that Africa will become the new China in terms of economic success, and by 2075, Francophone Africa is projected to surpass one billion French speakers.