About Us

IWU Language School for Kids: Learn by doing!

Our mission is to educate life-long learners for responsible and active global citizenship. We serve both the Bloomington-Normal community and the IWU students by providing a teaching and learning space that fosters an appreciation for cultural diversity.

Following the structure of a successful language program, our pedagogy is based on second language acquisition principles and practices of how children learn. We use content-based and task-based instruction in which children participate in age-appropriate activities. We offer quality second language programs in French and Spanish that serve children PreK to 5th grade from the Bloomington-Normal community and surrounding areas. The IWU Language School for Kids (LSK) fulfills one of IWU’s mission statements to provide experiential learning opportunities for IWU students. It also creates on-campus teaching opportunities for IWU teacher pre-candidates and academic internships in the languages; promotes community engagement, and, provides teaching experience to enhance competitiveness for post-graduate fellowships. 

The IWU Language School for Kids started in May 2015 with the help of an IWU Donnocker Program Innovation Grant. Since May 2020, LSK programming has been supported with small grants from the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation (IPCF). We also receive generous support from the department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures (WLLC), the International and Global Studies Program (IGS), and many IWU alumni and friends. We could not run our programs in French and Spanish without your support. Thank you! 

Our goals are to:

• create awareness among schools and parents about the importance of early language acquisition and appreciation of other cultures;

• introduce children to language learning and encourage at least minimal language proficiency;

• promote cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity;

• offer alternative learning and teaching opportunities;

• provide a training venue for pre- and in-service teachers and those who seek practical applications for their futures in second language teaching; and

• offer alternative ways to use language for community volunteers.

Contact us: languageschool@iwu.edu

Look for us in Facebook IWU Language School for Kids
 

Meet the LSK staff 

Dr. Carmela Ferradáns

Director

(Spanish)

Carmela Ferradáns holds a PhD in Spanish from the University of California, Irvine where she studied with the proponents of the "Natural Approach" in second language acquisition. Her research interests are Contemporary Spanisn Cultural Studies, Border Studies, and Translation Theory. She teaches Spanish language, literature, and culture at IWU. Dr. Ferradáns is the 2019 winner of the Kemp Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence, Illinois Wesleyan University's highest teaching honor.

Contact: cferrada@iwu.edu

Janette Lee

Instructor

(Spanish)

Janette Lee started learning Spanish in middle school and enjoyed it so much that she decided to pursue the language through college.She has a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with an ESL/Bilingual Education endorsement.She has loved traveling to different parts of Mexico and has 10 years of experience teaching Spanish grades K-8 in Chicago and Bloomington/Normal.

Contact: jlee6@iwu.edu

Dr. Lin Lin

Instructor

( Mandarin Chinese )

Lin Lin is from China and is currently teaching Mandarin Chinese courses at Thomas Metcalf School (6th and 7th grade) and University High School (Levels 1 through 5), including a course in which students can earn credit from Heartland Community College. Dr. Lin is from China and is currently teaching Mandarin Chinese courses at Thomas Metcalf School (6th and 7th grade) and University High School (Levels 1 through 5), including a course in which students can earn credit from Heartland Community College. In 2021, she received an Award of Meritorious Service from the Illinois State Board of Education Teacher of the Year program. Before moving to Bloomington-Normal in 2014, Lin taught Mandarin Chinese in the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh.In 2021, she received an Award of Meritorious Service from the Illinois State Board of Education Teacher of the Year program. Before moving to Bloomington-Normal in 2014, Lin taught Mandarin Chinese in the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh.

Julia Martin

Instructor 

(French )

Bonjour tout le monde! My name is Julia Martin. In addition to teaching French with LSK, I also teach French at the University High School (levels 1-4) and Thomas Metcalf School (6th-8th grade). I graduated from Illinois State University in 2020 with a BA in French Teacher Education, and I am currently working on my Master's Degree at Illinois State in Teaching and Learning with a concentration in culturally responsive pedagogy and multicultural education.  During my undergraduate studies I spent an academic year in Angers, France, studying at L’Université Catholique de l’Ouest where I was able to immerse myself in the language and culture. Teaching has always been my passion and dream. Once I started studying French, I fell in love with the language and learning languages in general. Teaching French has allowed me to combine both of these passions. I look forward to sharing my love of learning languages and about culture with your students!

Contact: jmartin5@iwu.edu

Rocio Morales 

Instructor

(Spanish)

Rocío Morales (MA, Illinois State University) is from Guatemala and since she moved to the United States, she has found joy in teaching Spanish language and culture. She has taught English to multilingual kids in Unit 4- Champaign and Spanish to college students at Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University. "Another language transforms how we see and live in this world”  

Contact: cmorale1@iwu.edu

Molly Ramirez

Instructor

(French)

Molly Ramírez (BS, Illinois State University) fell in love with French as a high school student and studied abroad and interned in France, Germany, and Switzerland. She has taught French in the Continuing Education program at Heartland Community College and currently teaches out of her home. In addition to teaching French, she is a Kindermusik instructor at Music Connections Foundation, a not-for-profit in Bloomington, where she has helped spearhead a Bilingual Birdies program.  She believes strongly in the benefits of raising bilingual and multilingual children to both individuals and to society, and she is committed to her role at the IWU Language School for Kids.

Contact: mramire1@iwu.edu