Students in Nancy DeLisle-Brown’s Spanish class at Kennesaw State University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute do more than conjugate verbs and work on rolling their Rs. DeLisle-Brown’s students try to immerse themselves in culture too, whether it’s holiday celebration or even a quinceañera party.
“Learning a language also encompasses learning the culture,” DeLisle-Brown told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So, when we bring culture into the classroom, we really like it to be a sort of hands-on experience … as if they were really there, so that’s what makes it so much fun.”
Credit: contributed by Nancy DeLisle-Brown
Credit: contributed by Nancy DeLisle-Brown
‘Comfortable and confident’
This was all before the pandemic, DeLisle-Brown is quick to explain. COVID-19 precautions have hampered interactive activities, but while students have been waiting to get back to the cultural learning components of her classes, DeLisle-Brown has been dutifully running them through the verb conjugation and vocabulary necessary to communicate in a language new to them.
The certificate program series she teaches, “Spanish is Fun,” includes four 10-week courses: Spanish 1 through 4. After certificate completion, there are optional classes for people who want to keep up their speaking, writing and listening skills.
“We want them to feel comfortable and confident to converse on a general level but also with a little more challenge — to be able to use certain verbs that they have learned, a lot of vocabulary — and just to be able to take that experience from the classroom into the community,” DeLisle-Brown said.
She’s taught Spanish through the OLLI program at Kennesaw for the past 15 years. She’d been teaching there in continuing education and English as a second language when the program needed an instructor. DeLisle-Brown, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a master’s in Spanish language and cultures teaches mostly retired people, though some still work. And some travel.
“They’re looking to gain a little bit of knowledge to take that with them in their travels because some do travel to Spanish-speaking countries,” she said. “And they just want to be able to at least converse on a small level with the people in the different countries.”
She loves watching her adult students light up with their new knowledge.
“There are so many things I enjoy, but it’s really relating to them when they’re struggling in certain areas because … I’m not a native speaker,” she said. “I had to learn the language, and so being able to really extend that compassion to them and understanding of what they’re going through — I can see the difference that it makes. And knowing in our practicing when they are becoming better and they’re learning a little bit more and after repetition and repetition, the light bulb is going on — that’s really the reward.”
OLLI at KSU
Learning options specifically for seniors began almost 30 years ago at KSU as “Golden University,” according to Patricia Walker Cummings, director of community programs for the KSU College of Graduate and Professional Education. When the school received an endowment from the Osher Foundation, the program became part of OLLI, which she says sees 1,400 to 1,600 unique enrollments in a typical year.
The OLLI program functions at KSU through an endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation. The Osher Institutes have a presence on 125 college campuses across the nation, and OLLI enrollees can expect environments tailored to their age demographic.
“Each provides a distinctive array of non-credit courses and activities specifically developed for seasoned adults aged 50 or older who are interested in learning for the joy of learning,” according to the foundation’s website.
Bernard Osher, a Maine native and businessman, started the foundation in 1977 with an aim to support higher education and improve lives.
The 75-85 courses available at KSU each quarter range from typical classroom fare — languages, history and science — to not-so-conventional options like bridge, mahjong and interior decorating. There are also fitness classes, including tai chi and yoga.
There are not-for-credit courses and classes with no homework for seniors who want to participate in the learning process with less pressure, and meeting and mixing with fellow learners is a distinct benefit for program participants, Walker Cummings said.
“We provide that educational opportunity but also social time,” she said. “As well as classes, we have a physical space here at the university where people can come in and participate in language. We have conversation groups where they can play bridge, they can play mahjong, work on their art together.”
Social events three times per year also allow students to get to know each other. A travel program had 37 participants scheduled to visit Italy in April after completing their Italian culture and language class. A visit to Greece is planned in October.
Courses average six weeks but can run as long as 10 weeks, Walker Cummings said. Some people plan their travel around their class schedules, so there’s one open week before and one after classes to allow for travel and for rescheduling make-up dates due to inclement weather.
“The majority of courses are during the day,” she said. “But we always try to make sure we have classes that are running in the evening or on the weekends for those that are still working.”
Credit: contributed by Kennesaw State University
Credit: contributed by Kennesaw State University
OLLI at Emory
Emory University’s learning program for seniors also took on the OLLI name after receiving Osher Foundation funding around 2006. Previously, the programs were presented as “An Evening with Emory,” and took place at night, according to Stephanie Tarpley, Emory’s OLLI program manager.
Classes are now held during the day beginning at 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. and extending into the afternoons. They run year-round, with fall, spring and summer sessions, and students can alternate between in-person and online classes. The online option has been a welcome development for the days when seniors feel like foregoing downtown traffic, Tarpley said.
“They’ll still get to see their friends and still get to talk online with everybody, so I think it’s a great addition to our program,” she said.
In-person classes take place at Emory Continuing Education facilities, which are near — though not actually on — Emory’s Decatur campus, affording participants easy parking. There are also meetups around Atlanta.
“We have great parking where we are,” Tarpley said. “But we’re pretty close. We’re off of Clairmont Road.”
Like KSU’s OLLI program, the Emory OLLI format allows for international trips with Italy scheduled for October. Travel stopped during the pandemic, but Tarpley said those opportunities are now starting to become available again.
Back in the classroom, courses of varying lengths include a range of subjects from literature and science to art and music. Short sessions are four weeks, and long sessions run six to eight weeks with about 900 enrolled students. Tarpley said she’s looking for that number to climb as reduced pandemic restrictions allow more people to participate again.
The entire program was online during the pandemic until March 31.
“We’ve been very lucky,” Tarpley said. “The pandemic has hurt us all, but we’ve done really well with maintaining our students and trying to keep them involved. Zoom has given everybody a front-row seat to our classes.”
For more information on OLLI programs at Emory and Kennesaw State, visit olli.emory.edu and cpe.kennesaw.edu/olli.
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