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ILI

The International Language Institute of Massachusetts (ILI) promotes intercultural understanding and diverse communities by providing high-quality language instruction and teacher training.

You are here: Home / News / ILI Student Stories: Chinatsu Nagamune

June 29, 2022

ILI Student Stories: Chinatsu Nagamune

Chinatsu Nagamune is an ESOL student in ILI’s Free English classes for Immigrants and Refugees. The background of her Zoom screen reveals fabrics of a beautiful deep blue color. 

Chinatsu working in her studio with indigo and fabric.Chinatsu uses traditional Japanese techniques, such as rice resist paste and hand-cut paper stencils, to create her patterns. The results are stunning: waves and eyes, concentric circles, and sharp lines. It’s all thanks to the indigo, she explains, which she ferments herself in her studio. As a textile artist she compares the practice of her art to the art of language learning, which she has enthusiastically taken up in ILI’s learning community.

When Chinatsu creates her intricate textile art, with a wide range in patterns and items, she uses all naturally sourced dyes. Growing up in a city, she says it was harder to have a connection to the natural world, so she finds the process of naturally dyeing fabrics grounding. Even when she was a kid, says Chinatsu.

I really loved drawing and picking up a lot of objects, and I like collecting a lot of objects like cicada shells, or, like, bark and I’d take them and put them in jars. I grew up in a city and there’s not a lot of nature, so probably as a reaction to that I was very obsessed with nature. So what I’m doing now is very focused on natural materials, from nature. So my dyeing plan is all from plants, dyeing pigments and all the stuff are all from nature…so that makes me very happy and feel very comfortable to work with.

Most of Chinatsu’s art uses indigo dye, which can be fickle; it needs to be fed every day. ChinatsuA closeup of an indigo dyed garment. describes the process of tending to the indigo dye as a dialogue: “It’s always a conversation with the materials.” Over time, she says, you get to know the dye and you can react to it. You learn to know when to add more and when to let it sit. It’s a process of give and take; just like a speaking conversation, it involves listening and learning. 

Chinatsu’s art shows how learning a new language is a lot like the fermentation process. It takes time, but the more time that is devoted to it, the stronger it grows. A little bit of knowledge over time, like learning a new word every day, adds up. It’s also a deeply personal process: although there are guides to fermentation, and many for language learning, too, language varies immensely from person to person, and even from one day to the next. To learn a language is to be in a state of constant evolution and growth. 

Chinatsu says that the community environment of ILI is what keeps bringing her back to learn in her artistic way: “We have all different An indigo dyed and pattern textile.backgrounds, we can talk about things without any judgment, and I think it is a very, very safe place for me and a really great way to jump into the community.” Instead of being worried about making mistakes, she is able to fully engage with her peers and with the English language. For Chinatsu, ILI is a welcoming environment where she feels comfortable with her skills and be confident practicing public speaking. She had lots of public speaking experience in Japanese, she says, but not as much in English until she practiced with the ILI community. ILI also connected her with an instructor who helped her practice presentations about dyeing fabrics. This summer, Chinatsu plans to host workshops to share her knowledge of textile art. She looks forward to teaching her skills to the entire Connecticut River Valley community. 

Check out Chinatsu’s website for more information. 

Interview and article by Emma Germanetto, UMass Amherst Community Engagement Course: Multilingualism and Literacy, spring 2022

Article by ILI Staff / News

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We love when Chloe comes to visit! 🐶 We love when Chloe comes to visit! 🐶
We love hearing from our students who are travelin We love hearing from our students who are traveling and studying language at one of our partner schools. This month we are featuring Kathy Felton who spent six weeks in Spain studying Spanish and exploring southern Spain. Pictured in this selfie taken by Kathy, are students from Brazil, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Japan and the U.S along with their instructor, Borga. And while Kathy was in Spain, she continued to volunteer in our language travel and volunteer tutor programs.

✨We are sending students to China, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Morocco and Spain where they improve their languages skills and experience the culture of the country. Learn more about our Language Travel Program here: ili.edu/programs/language-travel

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Teaching and learning at its best! Thanks to the @ Teaching and learning at its best! Thanks to the @world_affairs Council of Western Massachusetts, we welcomed 11 English teachers and 2 U.S Department of State advisors to ILI on Friday. The group represented 11 countries (Cabo Verde, Colombia, Greece, Malaysia,Mozambique, Peru, Sudan, Suriname, Tunisia and Uzbekistan) and are part of the International Visitor Leadership Program. They are in the U.S as part of the American Language and Multicultural Diversity project. 

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Each month ILI contributes a Word of the Month to Each month ILI contributes a Word of the Month to @northampton.living , this month it’s ÁDH MÓR, the Irish words for GOOD LUCK. ☘️ Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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Thanks to ILI supporters our first-ever Days of Gi Thanks to ILI supporters our first-ever Days of Giving-38 hours to celebrate 38 years-was successful! 🌻 Much appreciation to both our many new and long-time donors. We are especially happy to announce that among our new donors are two from countries outside the U.S.! 

You helped make our virtual events, such as the free mini language classes and conversation groups, fun and interesting. We also welcomed a great group of students, teachers, staff, board members and donors in person at Mama Iguana's to mark ILI's 38th year. 

And you helped us meet six fundraising challenges throughout the 38 hours. Notably, your support established the new "Days of Giving Scholarship" that will send immigrants and refugees in our free English classes to our fee-based Intensive English Program, where they will increase their hours of study from six per week to twenty-one hours per week!

�We hope you enjoyed ILI's Days of Giving and learned more about your community language school. Thank you once again!

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#repost from @valleycdc : The International Langu #repost from @valleycdc :

The International Language Institute and Valley Community Development are facilitating a Small Business Fundamentals class for non-native English speakers. The class will cover the basics of starting a business and how to write a business plan.

Participants will meet for 2 hours a week beginning on Thursday, March 16, 2023 at Valley's location in Northampton. The class will meet from 5 pm - 7 pm for 6 weeks.

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/yyk77be3

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