Ariel Clemmons

Background

About Ariel Clemmons

My name is Ariel and I’m a recent graduate from Indiana University Bloomington. I double majored in International Studies and Slavic & East European Languages and Cultures on the Russian Track, with minors in French, Intelligence Studies, and Second Language Studies, with an addition of a certificate: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). For 3.5 years I was a Russian Flagship student, where I received rigorous language instruction in Russian in order to reach a professional language ability. In the summer of 2022, I studied abroad in Almaty, Kazakhstan for an 8-week, full-Russian-immersion program. This program, the Russian Language Area Studies Program (RLASP) under American Councils, helped me better my language skills and learn more about Kazakh culture, especially after the end of the USSR. I am passionate about international affairs, intelligence and research, languages, and the relations that can be formed between people of different cultures and backgrounds. Along with my proficiency and skills in international affairs and analysis, I have language instruction experience. I had a year-long field experience as a Cadet Teacher with two placements. For 3 months I helped to teach introduction-level French at a local middle school. Then for 6 months, I trained in an elementary school ESL (English as a Second Language) Department with non-native English-speaking children, both individually and in small groups. I frequently utilized my Spanish skills in order to interact with the students with little to no English proficiency during pull-out groups that I conducted on my own. I was also a volunteer with an IU-affiliated program, Bridges Language Program, where IU language students teach children K-6 in the Greater Bloomington Area lesser taught languages; specifically volunteering as a Russian instructor.