The Allegheny College Department of Modern & Classical Languages has been awarded a curriculum development grant from TalkAbroad, a company which connects language students with trained native speakers in 15 countries around the world for live conversation. TalkAbroad evolved out of a not-for-profit organization in Nicaragua in 2009 and is now utilized by more than 100 colleges, universities and high schools.
The grant will provide video training, instructional 
materials, and funding to department staff to implement a trial of the service free of charge to Allegheny students. The service will commence in select courses beginning in the Fall 2018 semester.
The grant was written by Department Chair and Associate Professor of Spanish, Barbara Riess, with collaborators Laura Reeck, Professor of French, and Nancy Smith, Instructor of Spanish & French.