Ryan Ammerman received the FLAS Fellowship award in the fall of 2019 to study Portuguese at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Read about his experience below.

Why did you apply for the FLAS Fellowship? 

I first heard about the FLAS Fellowship during my Freshman Year at UW-Milwaukee in 2019. I had recently begun studying Portuguese formally at the university after a couple of years of independent study and had already intended on pursuing a Portuguese minor. When I realized that I would be able to receive funding for studying a language that I was and am incredibly passionate about, I didn’t hesitate to apply.  

What did you do for the FLAS Fellowship? 

One of the major benefits of the FLAS Fellowship was that it aligned very easily with my plan for graduation. As I was already taking language and culture classes in Portuguese, meeting the requirements was incredibly convenient! Additionally, I had been pursuing a major in Linguistics and Spanish, as well as a Certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, so taking the additional culture class overlapped with my other subject areas anyway. At the end, I did a language evaluation with my professor to see how my Portuguese had improved over the course of the fellowship. The FLAS fellowship also helped to further inspire me in my other studies 

What are you doing now? 

I now use Portuguese often in my everyday life. I was eventually hired at the university to work in the Language Resource Center, allowing me to create activities, exercises and other resources for Portuguese learners. Later, I became a Portuguese tutor, and in my last semester of my undergraduate experience, I taught a course, Portuguese for Spanish speakers. Learning Portuguese has opened so many doors for me, and the FLAS Fellowship helped to encourage me and support my studies. I recently graduated with majors in Linguistics and Spanish, a minor in Portuguese, and certificates in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). I will be starting my postgrad in the fall, where I will teach Portuguese courses in addition to pursuing a Master’s in the MALLT program (Master in Language, Literature and Translation), with a focus on Linguistics and Spanish.

What have you learned from the experience? How have your language skills and FLAS helped or prepared you? 

My experience with the FLAS Fellowship has allowed me the flexibility to pursue studying Portuguese in addition to other languages of interest. Learning languages as well as learning about languages have always been passions of mine, and I wouldn’t have any of the connections and opportunities that I have today if it weren’t for the various language-related opportunities I’ve received throughout my education. My language skills and FLAS have enriched my life, fueled my passion and opened countless doors for me.

Any other relevant details you’d like to share? 

My Portuguese professor as well as the staff at CLACS were incredibly helpful and encouraging throughout the application process. I strongly encourage anyone with an interest in language study to apply, as the process is simple, convenient, and a great motivator to continue studying, or to begin studying a new language!