For more than 15 years, Foreign Language Exchange Tutors have been invited to Bard to teach. Very much like the FLTA Program of the Institute of International Education, Bard’s FLET Program aims to strengthen foreign language instruction by establishing a native speaker presence, providing an opportunity for young, international teachers to add an energetic and up-to-date cultural component to foreign language classes as well as to student life on the campus, thus making studying and learning languages much more meaningful and real.

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Since its inception, Bard’s FLET Program has been an integral part of the steadily growing Foreign Language Programs at Bard , with tutors coming from all over the world, ranging from Austria, Argentina, China, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, and Spain to Tunisia. Working with Bard students in a relaxed atmosphere of small to medium-sized tutoring spaces located in the Library or the Olin Center for Foreign Languages and Cultures, FLETs typically work with students either individually, in small groups or in seminar settings for at least one hour per student a week. With the help of Library and internet resources, satellite TV, Realia and a vast amount of audio visual materials, tutors engage Bard College Language students in proficiency-enhancing discussions, challenge them to overcome their linguistic inhibitions, analyze and discuss other cultures and literatures (http://www.adfl.org/adfl/bulletin/V27N1/271001.htm) , and motivate them to come up with their own projects. These projects may include designing multi-media web pages, programming grammar or reading skill enhancing computer programs, producing radio plays, staging multi-lingual theater plays or puppet shows, or engaging in comparative news cast research projects. FLETS traditionally head the weekly Language Tables, organize film festivals, and host international evenings at their shared house.

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