800 Florida Ave. Bartering exchanging goods or services for something of equal value has always been a popular practice. The idea for the program came from a now-retired English Professor, Dr. Trent Batson. With the assistance of Anne Marie Baer, the program was officially established in 1994. Mentors meet at their convenience for two hours a week, for about eight weeks, focusing for an hour each on ASL and English.
Participants are free to use a variety of teaching methods for their sessions.
To polish ASL skills, some participants watch videotaped ASL stories, play games that focus on ASL useage, or simply converse with one another. Methods used for English include a live chat on the computer or TTY, writing an essay and reviewing it, and discussing a book or newspaper article that both participants have read. Most of the participants who are working on their ASL are graduate students and faculty members who have been at Gallaudet for a few years. The participants working on their English tend to be juniors and seniors. The number of participants per semester ranges from 30 to 75 mentors.