Today’s Student spotlight features current LTS student Cameron Teubner-Keller

– blog post by Inês Bernardo Catarino, FLTA-LTS

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background!

Hello everyone, my name is Cameron and I’m currently a graduate student in the LTS program. I graduated from the University of Oregon last year with a BA in Linguistics and a SLAT (Second Language Acquisition & Teaching) certificate. Having enjoyed the language teaching classes I had already taken, I decided to continue my education through the LTS program. I actually grew up here in Eugene, so I’ve been a life-long Duck! I’m also a life-long cat person, and currently have a 2 year-old Siamese named Tsuki (月). Her name means “moon” in Japanese. No matter how much she scratches up my bed, I still love her.

What brought you to language teaching? And to the UO?

I’ve always had an interest in and curiosity about world languages; I started studying Japanese in high school, and studied both French and Japanese at UO during my undergraduate studies – I’m currently still continuing my Japanese studies while doing the LTS program as well! Through my own experience, I’ve seen how learning another language allows you to experience things you otherwise would never be able to experience; you are able to gain a new perspective on the world, and connect with new cultures, people, and ideas about what it means to be a human. When I traveled to Japan last year by myself, I was able to immerse myself in the language and culture I had been studying, and it was life-changing. When they say to enjoy the little things in life, I think about the random interactions I had with strangers in Japan. For example, when I was in Japan, I was able to use Japanese to ask permission to take someone’s photo; this photo has since become one of my favorite photos that I’ve ever taken. I want to be a language teacher to help bring these experiences to more people. I want to show others how a new language can be more than just a subject to study – it can be a door to an entirely new life. The wealth of joy that knowing a second language can bring someone is something I will emphasize in all my language classes. It’s something I want to share with as many people as possible, in the most fun and engaging way possible.

What have some of your past experiences been with language teaching? Do you have any specifically fond memories?

My most favorite past experiences with language teaching have been my opportunities to teach students at the American English Institute. During both the 22-23 and 23-24 academic years, I was able to co-teach the Talking With Ducks elective course with my fellow LTS classmates. Those classes always pushed our creative limitations. Seeing the joy on our students’ faces when we had planned a fun lesson made all of the hard work worth it. I also had the opportunity to co-teach a 4-week summer program (Oregon Experience Program) for students from Tamagawa University during the summer last year with my fellow LTS classmate, Britany Stagnoli. This was my first real experience leading entire classes, but by the end of the program I knew that language teaching was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The conversations I was able to have with students about music, hobbies, experiences learning English – really anything – were some of my fondest memories from that teaching experience. I could tell that Britany and I had succeeded in creating a learning environment where the students felt comfortable to push themselves and dive headfirst into their learning. I could tell that they felt comfortable with us as teachers. I will always remember the OEP program and how extremely rewarding of an experience it was.

What has been the highlight of your time in the program so far?

I believe that the Talking With Ducks class has been my favorite part of the program; however, I’ve also just enjoyed building my confidence as a language teacher throughout the entire program. When I took my first LT class in the Winter 2022 term, I had a hard time believing I could be a language teacher, let alone a good one; I felt a lot of imposter syndrome during that time. However, now 2 years later, I’ve taken the multiple opportunities afforded by the LTS program to showcase my abilities, and I can confidently say I feel ready and excited to be a language teacher. Last term, I really enjoyed creating a literature-focused lesson on a deep theme (dealing with regret) while incorporating a song from my favorite artist, The Weeknd. I felt like I now had the skills to create unique and effective lessons that utilized materials and texts that, 2 years ago, I would never have imagined was possible.

How do you hope to work in the language teaching field in the future?

In the future, I hope to teach English at the university level in Japan. The university context allows for courses on more specific purposes as well as general language courses, and it would allow me to teach in many different ways. I think that my own teaching style aligns better with adults and university-level students, so I’d prefer to teach in that context. Curriculum design is a specific area that I would be interested in working in as well. At some point, I would love to assist in revamping the current English curriculum used in many high schools in Japan. The LTS program has shown me that there are a variety of possible ways to teach English and engage learners in multiple modalities with various materials, so I want to apply that to a teaching context I care about.

What is something outside of language teaching that you are passionate about? A fun fact about yourself that others may not know?

During the summer, I love to go out to Eastern Oregon and take photos of the stars; I’ve been doing astrophotography, and photography more generally, for over 10 years now. I often try to make it out to Sisters for the annual Perseid Meteor shower. I highly recommend anyone in Oregon to find a low-light pollution area and watch the meteors burst across the sky. Otherwise, if I have free time, I’m almost always spending time with my friends; whether it be at the gym working out, throwing a frisbee around in the sun, playing games for hours, or just chatting, my friends are the most important people to me.