Conversation Partners/Language Tutors meet one-on-one with students to give them an opportunity to practice interacting in a language that they are trying to learn. By engaging learners with friendly conversation in the target language, they provide informal language teaching. Conversation Partners/Tutors also help students improve reading comprehension, review course materials or activities, build vocabulary, and develop grammar skills.

All Conversation Partners/Tutors work with English Language Learners, helping them develop their fluency and proficiency in oral English, as well as helping them understand intercultural differences in communication. Conversation Partners/Tutors who have proficiency in American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish also provide support for students who are learning those languages.

Conversation partners earn $12/hour and typically work 3-8 hours per week; the hours are flexible and can be scheduled around other obligations.

Who can apply:

Undergraduate students from all academic majors are eligible to apply for these positions. We particularly welcome applicants who have

• extensive experience with language learning
• experience tutoring or teaching English or another language
• personal experience as an English language learner, exchange student, or international student
• experience living, working, or studying abroad.

Students who wish to serve as Conversation Partners/Tutors for Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, or American Sign Language must have achieved intermediate to advanced proficiency in one of those languages, either through self-study or coursework. (Usually this means that they have completed language courses at the 3000-level or higher.)

How to apply:

Complete the online application form and submit the following materials (through the form):

• Resume
• Cover letter, including answers to the following:
  • What interests you about working with the Language Tutoring & Conversation Partners program?
  • Describe your academic interests and your experiences with languages and international cultures.
  • In one paragraph, answer the following question about English or another language you are applying to support:
    • Imagine you are helping a student with this language. What is something about the language that you think would be difficult to explain, and how would you explain it? You may consider grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, interaction, slang, culture, etc.
• 2-3 recent academic writing samples - at least one must be in English. The others may be in another language that you are applying to support as a tutor (e.g., Spanish if you are applying to be a Spanish tutor).

Current openings and application deadlines:

We are not currently hiring. Check back in April for information about applying for positions that will start in fall 2024. Sign up for our newsletter for updates about hiring in the future.