#HowIBoomalang is a series of interviews highlighting how educators bring Boomalang into their classrooms to support real-life language use. Below are highlights from our conversation with Dr. Lisa Merschel, Senior Lecturer at Duke University, on how she uses Boomalang to create meaningful Spanish conversation practice for beginners and intermediate learners.
“Taking it out of the textbook and into real life makes it all worthwhile. I’ve seen that from my students in the reflections that they’ve written, and coming into class, they talk highly about their conversations.”
Classes: Elementary & Intermediate
Problem
Looking for new ways to motivate students in elementary and intermediate Spanish classes, Dr. Lisa Merschel, Senior Lecturer at Duke University, turned to technology as a tool to inspire.
“I get pitches all the time from companies to integrate all types of technology, but Boomalang was different. It caught my eye for ease-of-use and the youthfulness of native speakers. I thought this could be a fantastic way to connect my students in a significant way with native speakers around the world.”
Solution
“Boomalang finds speakers online who are fun, reliable, and trustworthy. Students can be afraid to talk to strangers, especially when there’s video involved.”
To ease students into the experience, Lisa introduced Boomalang in a low-pressure way.
“To alleviate the fear factor, I have my students begin speaking in pairs to Boomalang partners instead of one-on-one,” Lisa shares. “They have a terrific time in pairs because they have the support of their classmate and can rely on them to fill in the gaps when they don’t understand something.”
Lisa typically assigns two 15-minute conversations per semester, with a short reflection afterward. Some of her colleagues assign five to six conversations, depending on course level and goals. She plans to increase usage as student feedback remains overwhelmingly positive.
Results
“I’m completely confident with students [leveraging Boomalang]. It makes me smile as a professor to see my students get excited about these conversations, and they are so proud of the conversations they’ve had.
[My students] say this is an amazing experience because they really get to practice their Spanish in a meaningful, personal way, which is our goal, especially at the lower levels. Taking it out of the textbook and into real life makes it all worthwhile. I’ve seen that from my students in the reflections that they’ve written, and coming into class, they talk highly about their [Boomalang] conversations.
Students are more confident. They see connections now where they didn’t see connections before [related to our lesson plans]. It’s not just isolated grammar topics that we’re looking at. We’re looking at tools that we can use to communicate with someone and apply those tools in a meaningful way.”
For educators looking to bring language learning tools for college courses into their classrooms, Boomalang offers a low-barrier, high-impact solution. It’s easy to implement and creates lasting value through cross-cultural conversation practice and student-led engagement.
Have a story to share?
Whether it’s a small win or a big breakthrough, we’d love to hear it. Help grow the Boomalang community by commenting below, emailing info@boomalang.co, or sharing your experience on Twitter using #HowIBoomalang.
Saludos,
Alison, Community Engagement
