Portuguese Study Goes Global with Skype Sessions

Portuguese Study Goes Global with Skype Sessions

On a Tuesday morning in Newcomb Hall on the Tulane University uptown campus, students across three classrooms are laughing, sharing stories and talking about pop culture — with student partners thousands of miles away in Brazil.

These students are part of the Teletandem language program, in which students are partnered with a Brazilian peer via Skype for a modern version of a pen pal program.

Each session is 75 minutes long, with a half hour devoted to speaking each language (English and Portuguese) and a 5–10 minute conclusion where students can talk about language difficulties or cultural differences that they noted during the session.

The relationships that students develop with their Skype partners “makes this [program] a highly personalized endeavor,” says Megwen Loveless, senior lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Her students were nervous before their first Skype session, she says, but have become much more confident in their Portuguese abilities and established close relationships with their partners.

Loveless, the Portuguese basic language program director, says that this program makes it easier for students to understand other cultural perspectives, learning about them directly from other students. Some cultural differences come up naturally, such as food traditions or popular music, while others are introduced via articles and videos supplied by professors. During the sessions, students talk about topics ranging from daily routines to eccentric professors to their favorite Netflix series.

The Teletandem program currently is available for students enrolled in Portuguese 1120, but Loveless plans to offer it for 2030 classes next spring. Her department also has debuted “PORceiros,” a program in which visiting Portuguese scholars and Tulane students can meet up to practice both languages.

Several of her students say that the program also provides them with improved language capabilities, better cultural understanding and a new friendship with an international peer.

Interested students should contact Loveless for more information.