Rassias Center Supports Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation with Language Revitalization
Training Program Offered Techniques for Teaching
December 11, 2025
Listuguj, Pointe-a-la-Croix, QC, Canada - The Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures of Dartmouth College recently worked on a language revitalization program with the Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation in Quebec.
The Listuguj Mi’gmaq have over 4,000 members on reserve and another 2,000 off reserve and is one of seven communities of the Mi’gma’gi located in Canada’s Eastern Provinces, eastern Quebec, and northeastern Maine. The Mi’gmaw Adult Immersion Program is a full-time, intensive language-learning initiative offered through the Listuguj Mi’gmaq Development Centre to support the revitalization of the Mi’gmaw language. The program helps adults build strong conversational and cultural proficiency through immersive instruction, land-based learning, and community-centered activities. Its goals include increasing the number of fluent speakers, strengthening cultural identity, and supporting intergenerational language transmission—especially for parents of children in immersion programs. Graduates often go on to use the language in their homes, workplaces, and community, contributing to long-term language preservation and growth.
The Rassias Method integrates a five point teaching philosophy with dramatic techniques, rhythmic drills, and energetic reinforcement strategies designed to reduce learner’s inhibitions and accelerate spoken proficiency. Helene Rassias-Miles ‘78a and Dan Markwood ‘28, visited Listuguj to deliver a two-day Rassias Method® workshop for 13 adult language specialists, teachers, and current Mi’gmaq language students. The program was highly interactive and created an atmosphere of tolerance, joy, and laughter while teaching the group techniques to take back to their individual roles.
Rassias Method programs are primarily used for world language programs, but they have an interdisciplinary approach and can be applied to a multitude of subject areas. The Listuguj program participants work with students in school as young as four and up to adult Mi’gmaw immersion programs through the Listiguj Mi’gmaq Development Center. The Rassias Center has worked with many indigenous groups both in the United States and Canada to help revitalize languages for growth and preservation.
Dartmouth College has long been known for its support of indigenous and native groups with initiatives like the Tribal Leadership Academy which brings together indigenous officials to look at critical issues such as economic development, health care, education, and tribal climate adaptation. Dartmouth also has a commitment to community service and social impact to encourage students to be transformative leaders for the common good.
Dan Markwood 28’, Rassias Center intern, said of the program, “It was deeply rewarding to see this group of dedicated teachers put everything they had into these two days. Equally rewarding was seeing these teachers introduce Rassias techniques in their language preservation efforts. We look forward to future opportunities with this and other First Nations."
“It is so inspiring to help support language revitalization with this group,” said Rassias Center Executive Director Helene Rassias-Miles. “They are so committed to the cultural relevance and importance of keeping the language and traditions alive and we are so proud to be a part of that.”
“We were so glad to have the Rassias team join us and share their wonderful methods. As a long-time Mi’gmaw language teacher, it was refreshing to participate in a workshop that is so relevant to what we do,” said Mi’gmaw Adult Immersion Program Coordinator Maddie Metallic. “Helene and Dan were invaluable and accommodating, and all participants said they would recommend this workshop to other language teachers.”
To learn more about the Rassias Center please visit rassias.dartmouth.edu
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About the Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures of Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College’s Rassias Center promotes cultural understanding and strengthens communication, within the Dartmouth College community and among people around the world. The Rassias Center sees language instruction as a humanistic pursuit that sensitizes individuals to other cultures and the relativity of values; that shares resources for the betterment of national and international understanding; that appreciates similarities and respects differences among peoples. The Center aims for language learning to connect people heart to heart through language and cultural instruction and training future teachers to carry on the Method.
The Rassias Method® integrates a five point teaching philosophy with dramatic techniques, rhythmic drills, and energetic reinforcement strategies designed to reduce learners’ inhibitions and accelerate spoken proficiency. The goal is to make students sound natural and feel comfortable with language and culture by creating an error-tolerant classroom atmosphere.
Rassias.dartmouth.edu. Language learning with heart.