Passing the Plate with Some Extra Lingo on the Side

Every student of the foreign languages at Middlebury College is most likely familiar with the language tables. From Monday to Friday, waiters and waitresses make their way through the lively and chatter-filled rooms of Proctor and Ross dining halls, carrying plates of food and taking orders from students. A myriad of sounds – some familiar and some utterly new – bounce off of the walls, from the phonetics of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, to the distinctive guttural “r’s” of the French language.

The concept of the language table is simple: students studying a foreign language join their peers and a member of the faculty – or a teaching assistant – for a sit-down lunch in which their conversation may only be in that language. Currently, the College offers these tables in a diverse range of languages, including Chinese, Italian, French, Arabic, Russian, Korean and German, just to name a few.

Most students agree that the language tables offer a casual environment away from the traditional pressures of the classroom to practice a foreign language. Hye-Jin Kim ’17 – a waitress for the French language tables – has studied French since sixth grade and notes that she took the job in her first semester at the College.

“When I started working language tables, I was only in the 205 class. I really wanted to improve my French speaking abilities and become more comfortable with the language, so being a waitress made a lot of sense, and cents. It’s cool that I can be paid to practice French at Middlebury.”

When asked about the best part of the job, Kim remarks “the most enjoyable part is definitely hanging out with the other waiters in the kitchen and [helping] kids during my shift. All the behind-the-scenes shenanigans. [Everyone] is a character, in the best way possible. The most challenging part is speaking French. Trying to describe a ‘magic bar’ or a ‘rice krispie treat’ is still difficult for me.”

Similarly, Joy Zhu ’17 also views the language tables as an effective way to immerse oneself in a foreign language environment right here in Middlebury, Vermont. Zhu – who just attended the 8-week German Language School this summer – is currently enrolled in a 350 level German class and loves simply “getting to know my classmates and talking to her teachers about everything from class material to more specific cultural topics.”

However, language table veterans also remark that beginner students have a hard time at first adjusting to the language tables. Robert Liu ’17 – who is currently enrolled in Spanish 210 – has studied the language since his junior year of high school and attends the language tables approximately six times each semester.

“Beginner students will often encounter someone with very high Spanish-proficiency,” Liu notes, “which makes it difficult for them to communicate.”

As a solution to this problem, Liu suggests that the language tables be re-grouped in such a way so that “students with relatively higher language proficiency – namely the 400 and 500 level students and students who have just returned from their study abroad experience – converse at one table, while the beginner students are a grouped at a separate table.”

While it is clear that the language tables will always remain an invaluable part of the College’s long – and hugely rewarding – history in foreign language instruction, Zhu also agrees with Liu’s suggestion, but with a slight twist.

“Sometimes students enrolled in 100 level classes feel a certain sense of awkwardness because they just do not know what to say. I think it would be better if we had tables especially purposed toward beginner speakers that are equipped with more TAs and some higher level students, too.”