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The building blocks of language are important. But some things, you just can't learn in a classroom.

That's why Melissa Logue, an Ohio State academic advisor, brings students in her "Spanish in Ohio" class out into Columbus' Latino community.

"It's very different learning Spanish in the classroom versus learning Spanish for the job," Logue says. "You can't really divorce the language from the culture."

Students in Logue's class go on field trips--locations have included Ohio Head Start for young children; Fronteras, Columbus' Spanish-language newspaper; and Cuco's Mexican Taqueria and Grill, a Hispanic market and eatery--and hear from guest speakers who are knowledgeable about Ohio's Hispanic community.

To pass the course, they must complete 100 hours of "immersion." Some of those hours can be spent watching Telemundo, a Spanish TV station, or listening to Latino music. But the majority must be spent volunteering with agencies that serve Hispanic Ohioans: free clinics, tutoring programs, a food pantry, even the Girl Scouts.

“Students say, 'I'm a Spanish major. What can I do with that?' When they take the class, they see firsthand.”
— Melissa Logue

"We couldn't really require students to study abroad; what we could require was that students get an immersion-type experience," Logue says.

"The course is about what the community's needs are."'

Students aren't just helping the Hispanic community. They're also helping themselves.

"They're setting themselves up for internship opportunities," Logue says. One class speaker solicited resumes from the students. And on a recent field trip, students were invited to a job fair going on that day.

"Their name is passed around. They have a real great opportunity to find a position within the community," Logue says.

"As an academic advisor I have students coming in here all the time saying, 'I'm a Spanish major. What can I do with that?' When they take the class, they see firsthand."

(text/images: University Marketing Communications)

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