Every year, Fulbright Austria sends an Austrian Fulbright foreign language teaching assistant (FLTA) to Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where the FLTAs teach German to US university students. During the 2023–24 program year, one US teaching assistant (USTA) moved to Austria to teach English after graduating from Bates. Excited by the cross-cultural effect that our programs can have, we invited USTA Elliott Vahey and the three FLTAs who taught her German at Bates—Frida Sagmeister, Alexandra Efstathiades, and Saskia Weingast—to come together to discuss the impact they and the programs they participated in can have on the teaching assistants and their students.

00:00 Intro
00:55 What do you as teaching assistants get out of the experience?
03:09 What insights have you gained into your own home culture in your roles as teaching assistants and cultural ambassador?
05:58 How does teaching in your host country compare to teaching in your home country?
09:22 How much did you know about Austria prior to your classes with Austrian FLTAs?
11:11 As an Austrian FLTA in a field typically focused on Germany’s language, history, and cultural production, what kind of unique contributions were you able to make in your classes?
12:56 You’ve been in Austria for an academic year now. What are your impressions of the country?
15:11 How did your impressions of the US change after living in the country?
17:26 What are your favourite memories from Bates College?
18:57 What advice do you have for future applicants and program participants?
20:46 Outro