Dear Friends of the Rassias Center,

All of us here at the Rassias Center hope 2021 has begun and will continue with safety, good health, and good things for you and yours.

With this newsletter, we will share with you some of the work happening on the Dartmouth campus with Zoom, reintroduce Spongy, and focus on the following Rassias Center developments:

Dartmouth Language Departments Shift to Remote Learning

As this is our first newsletter since the transition to online drill, we feel it is vital to share our deep gratitude for all those who have made this journey possible. All the terrific work paid off as we were able to continue to help foster a learning environment with Dartmouth's Modern Language Departments.  

Drill on-screen at the College is now, pragmatically, a COVID-19 tradition. We are humbled by and grateful to all those who worked so hard to create an exciting multidimensional drill experience. From the moment the Departments and the Center realized classes would be on-line, there was an immediate can-do and will-do attitude to deliver a dynamic drill experience to students. This commitment was doubled down upon as it became clear that drill not only offered learning and student employment, but also a community for the students which many of them yearned for. Together, as a Dartmouth community we continue to move forward.

Now February, three terms later, winter drill is well underway. The number of students who tried out to drill is impressive; a testament to the wonderful work of the Language Departments and to the very human desire to share the gift of communication. Once again, Dartmouth is speaking another language and learning viscerally about culture. We salute all these teams (the German AT Pre-Orientation Discussion is pictured above).

Rassias Center Pivot to Remote Learning

In April 2020, as soon as the Department programs were underway, we began beta testing and pivoting for our Rassias Center adult language classes. As had been carried out with the College, we gathered remotely with colleagues from throughout the world; many of them Dartmouth alums from across the decades. We presented this varied and talented group with a graduated series of beta tests, appreciated, and focused on their comments, and began our newest journey.

Since May, we have offered:

Learn more about our current course offerings and sign up today.

The semi-intensive evening classes were formed on the framework of our community classes (formerly two nights a week on campus). These classes are now held three evenings a week, 90-minutes long, including 40-minutes of Master Class and 40-minutes of drill. Our goal is to offer an enriching remote experience now and beyond. Once again, our participants from throughout the country are creating community in language.

To take you into the next section about our Philosophy, we are honored to share a quote from an alumna regarding her semi-intensive experience:

“... I am so incredibly grateful for the language program that your father [John Rassias] created and for what you and the Rassias Center do to create and foster a truly global world.  During a year of extreme divisiveness, you, through your program, are the light that we desperately needed to remember that we are one world community.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Introduction to the Five Point Rassias Philosophy

In these unprecedented times, it is apparent that the Philosophy of the Rassias Method®, and Spongy, is indeed relevant.

Spongy symbolizes newborn, unfettered passion, the raw soul of the human experience. As we learn and grow, the “crusts around our hearts” can thicken from the influences of family, peers, and professional life. This is, as you all know, not inherently bad. Our mission though is to break away those crusts and bring each individual student to a place of pure exploration, to learn to stand tall, to share with those around them, and to treasure these shared experiences. This state brings out the best in a learner and creating this environment is what makes the high energy of a Rassias Method classroom resonate so well.