Community
Partners

• Teachers schedule and plan field trips with Community Partners, reaching out through the Bilingual Village app to set a date and time that’s convenient for both. 
• Field trips may be for the entire class on one day or for small groups of the class over a series of days. 
• The resources for Community Partners include a brochure with suggestions for employees to ensure a successful field trip.

• Depending on the age of the students, they will visit Bilingual Village Community Partners with or without their families. 
• While wearing Bilingual Village buttons stating “Speak with me in English” or “Habla conmigo en español” (or other languages, depending on the establishment), the language learner will approach an employee and ask for (in their new language) what they would like to buy or do, for instance, to buy a pastry or check out a library book. 
• In the resources for Community Partners, there is an infographic that employers share with employees about their interactions with language learners.

• Stay in the language that the student’s button shows. Employees don’t switch languages even if the student struggles, and they encourage students to continue in their new language. If employees speak the student’s first language, they should only resort to using it if communication breaks down completely. 
• Be patient. They will give the students time as language learners may take a bit longer to find the words they need.

• If the language learner approaches an employee who doesn’t speak the language on the student’s button, the employee should call over another employee who does. 
• Once the student completes the transaction, the employee provides a QR code for the student to scan into their passport in the Bilingual Village app or stamps the student’s physical Bilingual Village Passport.
• Community partners can set specific days and times most convenient for language learner visits, such as non-rush hours and when employees who speak various languages are on shift (for example, a French pastry shop with French-speaking employees only on certain days).

Bilingual Speaker’s Bureau Presentation–In-person or on Zoom

For in-person or Zoom Speaker’s Bureau presentations and discussions, School Partners review the options for topics and language(s) and schedule their chosen session through the Bilingual Village app.

The teacher will reach out to the speaker to confirm the session and discuss the format. Before the session, the teacher will inform students about the presentation and will lead the class in writing questions to ask the speaker. 

Depending on students’ age, presentations usually last about 15-30 minutes, and student questioning takes another 15-30 minutes. The more visuals and props the presentations and discussions include, the better!