Two Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants Join Languages Department

Lebanon Valley College welcomes two recipients of Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Program grants to its Languages Department for the 2016–2017 academic year. Manon Waltner arrives from Thionville, France, to share her knowledge of French and Noelia Carrizo from Catamarca, Argentina, will assist students in Spanish. 

Waltner brings a wealth of international experience to the position, and during the course of her academic career has spent as much time in Germany as in her native nation, France. After the conclusion of an Erasmus semester in Wuppertal, she remained in the country for a series of internship positions and the completion of her master’s degree in European management (business administration). Waltner earned her degree as part of a dual program from the ESB Business School (Hochschule Reutlingen) in Reutlingen, Germany, and the EM Strasbourg Business School in Strasbourg, France. 

As a teaching assistant at LVC, Waltner wants to impart her passion for languages and culture to students while creating a positive and inclusive classroom atmosphere. She hopes to encourage students through her unique knowledge as a native speaker of French and a representative of French culture. Through the utilization of new technologies and interactive teaching methods, Waltner aims to push students to find what motivates them to improve their French skills. 

Carrizo seeks to create a similar environment for Spanish students through the application of techniques learned when obtaining her bachelor of arts degree as an English language teacher. Carrizo graduated from the University of Catamarca with the highest GPA in her class, despite having received minimal prior instruction in the language. She attributes this success to her dedicated work ethic, which her teachers and parents instilled in her at a young age.

Much like these influential figures, Carrizo aspires to serve as an academic mentor to LVC students. She intends to serve as an active participant in students’ education by remaining accessible and fostering confidence and cultural awareness in and out of the classroom. Prior experience as a teaching assistant and her dual role as a language learner and native Spanish speaker places Carrizo in the unique position to fulfill this goal.

Walter and Carrizo are two of the almost 400 young educators from 50 countries that traveled to the United States this year to help teach and internationalize U.S. colleges and universities through the Fulbright FLTA Program. The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board selects grant recipients on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential.