English Language Programs

are leading the future of AI-powered learning. 🤖🔮📽️ In Iraq, Specialist Stephen Lind led a virtual training series on trade language and other key business topics for professionals from Iraqi chambers of commerce, business councils, and private enterprises. Realizing the range of participants’ English level, he quickly pivoted and recorded a parallel video lecture series, using AI-supported translation and voiceover tools to create bilingual learning materials that would amplify and scale the impact of the live training. The result: more enduring, adaptable training—and a clear example of in for education and economic development.

Pacific Northwest roots, global impact 🌲🌍 Oregon-based educator Lauren Johnson brought 25+ years of nonprofit and ESL expertise to her project in Türkiye, where she worked with members of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar communities in Türkiye to strengthen civil society. Through practical English for fundraising, leadership, and storytelling, she helped participants craft powerful messages, connect with supporters, and build resilient initiatives.

Read more about the impact of English Language Programs participants from the Pacific region at https://elprograms.org/freedom-250. 🇺🇸

In Kazakhstan, Francois Harris turned American culture into a creative lab 🇺🇸✨ After exploring American foods, expressions, and the national anthem, students designed their own “Americans”—complete with backstories, hobbies, and personalities. The class was abuzz with lively conversation and questions about what it really means to be . 💬

Dongping Zheng exemplifies how American expertise can transform language teaching and learning on a global scale. Drawing on her research and teaching at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, she has applied her scholarship in second language acquisition and integration to advance innovative approaches to language learning through projects in Vietnam. 🌍🤖🗣️

Read more about the impact of English Language Programs participants from the Pacific Region at https://elprograms.org/freedom-250. 🇺🇸

In the hours before Artemis II astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, Chelsea Olsen led a cultural event for a group of teenagers and teachers-in-training in Argentina centered on this historical American accomplishment in space exploration. Together, the participants imagined they were a team of astronauts on the Artemis IV mission to the moon and created comics of the adventure while the live feed of the Artemis astronauts’ return to Earth was streamed. 🚀🧑‍🚀🌒

As an in Chile, Ellen Kappus of Jackson, Wyoming, brought her expertise as an instructor in Wyoming public schools, Central Wyoming College, and beyond to a global stage, partnering with the Chilean Ministry of Education’s Programa Inglés Abre Puertas to deliver workshops on the science of learning, evidence-based vocabulary instruction, and AI-enhanced teaching tools to hundreds of in-service and pre-service teachers across multiple regions.

Read more about the impact of English Language Programs participants from the Mountain Region at https://elprograms.org/freedom-250. 🇺🇸

In Tashkent, Sean Dailey led a six-week Aviation English program for a new cohort of pilot candidates. ✈️ Using real-world scenarios, dynamic Zoom breakout rooms, and Telegram for ongoing speaking practice, students developed their skills through collaboration, reflection, and peer learning. The course also prioritized program longevity, embedding a local instructor into the training and introducing a “Flight Path to Fluency” series to support lifelong learning beyond the classroom. The resource also included a custom AI chatbot hosted on to help pilots practice for the English Proficiency Test required for pilots flying international routes.

Sharon Lyman, a lecturer at Southern Utah University’s American Language and Culture Center, served as an English Language Fellow at Bokhtar State University in Tajikistan, where she provided training in communicative teaching, digital literacy, and classroom management while team‑teaching with local instructors. Her fellowship advanced English proficiency, expanded access to reliable information, and supported long‑term educational development in southern Tajikistan.

Read more about the impact of English Language Programs participants from the Mountain Region at https://elprograms.org/freedom-250. 🇺🇸