Foreign Language Teaching Assistant | German

Pacific University has hosted Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTA) since 1994.  Over the years, FLTAs have come from such countries as Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Chile, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Taiwan, Tunesia, and Uruguay.  FLTAs assist in language classes, tutor, facilitate language conversation tables, and organize cultural events on and off campus. They also make themselves available for public presentations about their cultures and enrich campus life with their international perspectives.

Janek Margardt is the FLTA for the German program at Pacific University.

German Program Foreign Language Teaching Assistant 2021-22

Moin, Servus, Hallo und wie geht´s!
My name is Janek and I am the German Foreign Language Teaching Assistant here at Pacific University. I am 23 years old from Germany, I live in Püttlingen and I am currently studying to become a P. E. and English teacher back in Germany.

Facts about me: I love baseball (Royals and Red Sox) and I do love the Chiefs! The Trailblazers are also fun! I like almost any sport- Surfing and Snowboarding. Good times, hiking, guitar, ASL and good food.

This year, I was given the opportunity to become a Fulbright Scholar and accept my grant to become a Teaching Assistant in the United States. This is the second time that I am spending a longer time in this country as I spent 10 months in Kansas as an exchange student in 2015. After two months of living at Pacific, I came to realize how beautiful, supporting, enriching and helping this environment is. My overall goal of becoming an impactful educator has been strengthened by all the experiences that I was able to collect. Teaching, tutoring, doing cultural events, Stammtisch and my culture nights are all different contributions that help me test out methods and improve as a teacher. I take a lot of time to reflect on my teaching and I sure learned a lot about myself too! I am also very proud to act as a cultural ambassador, showing people that Germany is more than Bier, Brezeln und Lederhosen!

I also want to take a brief moment to encourage you to teach or study abroad. You can find many different options to do so (especially with Fulbright). In order to understand what this all means to me, you have to experience what I am experiencing. So don´t be shy- you have nothing to lose, but a lot to win!

Outside my teaching and assisting in class, you can find me participate in all the activities and events that are offered to students. If you take a closer look at open mic night, you might see me play some songs with my friends.

I hope I was able to show you what this opportunity means to me- and that there are many for you too!

TA Janek
marg2765@pacificu.edu
FLTA for the German Program