Seeking Conversation Partners

The Center for World Languages hires Five College students and local community members who are fluent in other languages to serve as conversation partners.

The Five College Center for World Languages seeks speakers of African, Middle Eastern, Pacific, Eurasian, South, and Southeast Asian languages, as well as less-commonly taught languages of Europe and the Americas, to serve as conversation partners for students in our language programs.

Position Description

As a conversation partner, you will:

  • Meet once a week with small groups of 1-4 students for conversation practice in the target language
  • Design role plays, dialogues, and conversation topics 
  • Submit weekly lesson plans and post-session reports on student progress

The ideal conversation partner:

  • Is excited to share their language and culture(s)
  • Possesses excellent interpersonal skills
  • Is organized and responsive

The conversation partner role is a wonderful opportunity to share your language and culture, build community, and gain fun and resume-building professional experience. 

Positions available: 

  • The Center hires 30-50 conversation partners each semester. 
  • Conversation partners are hired for one semester at a time.

Eligibility:

  • Candidates must be able to speak, read, and write in the target language. No other experience is required -- we'll train you!
  • Candidates must possess a good command of spoken English, be eligible to work in the U.S., and be able to pass a post-offer background check.
  • This position counts as on-campus employment for international students enrolled at any of the Five Colleges.
  • Individuals on J-1 visas or who are working a significant number of hours in another position should inquire about eligibility to ensure compliance with employment rules.
  • This position is not eligible for work study and does not count toward work study earnings limits.

Hours: 2-4 hours/week

Pay: $15.75–$17.25 for current or recent undergraduates; others should inquire with the Center.

Location: Sessions will meet on your home campus. 

Questions? Contact fclang@fivecolleges.edu.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Languages Sought

We welcome applications from native/fluent speakers of the languages listed below. Speakers of other languages are welcome and encouraged to apply. Please note that we do NOT have any positions available for speakers of commonly taught languages such as French, Spanish, and Mandarin. 

African languages (all)
Afrikaans 
Albanian
Amharic 
Arabic (all dialects)
Armenian (Western or Eastern)
Bangla
Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian
Bulgarian
Burmese
Cantonese 
Czech
Danish
Dari
Dutch
Ewe
Filipino / Tagalog
Finnish
Georgian

Greek
Haitian Creole 
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Igbo
Indonesian
Irish
Kazakh
Khmer / Cambodian
Kurdish
Lao
Macedonian
Malay 
Mongolian
Native American languages (all)
Nepali
Norwegian

Pashto
Persian
Romanian
Sinhala
Slovak
Swahili
Swedish
Thai
Tibetan
Turkish
Twi / Akan
Ukrainian
Urdu
Vietnamese
Wolof
Yoruba
Zulu 

If you speak a language not listed here, we would still love to hear from you!

Contact Us

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Center for World Languages Staff

Staff