After studying seven languages, living in seven countries and visiting 11, one linguist decided to make Shippensburg University her home.

Professor Agnès Ragone began her career at SU in 1998, where she still teaches French and Spanish courses. Originally from Algeria, a country in North Africa, Ragone grew up speaking primarily French and some Arabic. The war in Algeria and a lack of high schools prompted Ragone’s parents to send her to Barcelona, Spain to further her education.

After nine years of studying in Spain, Ragone added Spanish to her repertoire of languages. While in school, Ragone also learned how to write in Latin and Greek, as part of the curriculum. She later went on to study at the French College of London, England.

But studying six languages would not be the last step for Ragone. She took her education further and moved to Germany, where she learned her seventh language.

Today, Ragone describes herself as fluent in three languages: French, Spanish and English. She is fairly confident with her German and Arabic.

“I won’t die of hunger and I hope not to get lost, but I would not be able to talk philosophy,” Ragone said of her skills with German and Arabic.

Ragone decided to move her family to the United States for the sake of her children’s education. Julie and Jacques, now 36 and 26 years old, live in California and Texas, respectively. Jacques speaks four languages, while Julie knows three.

The road to becoming a professor began with Ragone’s undergraduate and master’s degrees from Louisiana State University and later, a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

As a linguist, Ragone examines the qualities of the language, like syntax and phonetics.

“[Linguistics] can help us learn how and why we say certain things,” Ragone said in Spanish.

SU drew her interest because the modern languages department offered to let her teach both French and Spanish courses — her strongest disciplines. She also enjoys the small size of Shippensburg, but recognizes the advantage of its location to larger cities like Harrisburg.

In addition to teaching her courses, Ragone is the adviser to three clubs: French, Spanish and Creole clubs.

When students became the main topic of conversation, Ragone’s eyebrows twitched upward with excitement. Through her years at SU, she has seen students benefit from the modern languages department in a variety of ways.

“I hope they have a greater appreciation of the culture,” Ragone said in Spanish. “Certainly, that they improve their form of speech, but I have tried to have good relationships with students.”

Senior Matt Kline, a communication/journalism major, takes French 102 with Ragone.

“I’ve had just one French class with her and wish I could have more,” Kline said. “She’s a great person with a lot of worldly experience that I think is very important when teaching foreign language and culture.”

Outside the classroom, Ragone helps lead a service-learning trip to Haiti during winter break, where SU students have helped build a school’s playground. Ragone also organizes modern languages competitions for high school students. With any free time she has left, she serves as the editor of the Shippensburg Journal of Modern Languages, which is published every two years.

As someone who is constantly immersed in foreign languages, Ragone understands the struggle students can have when learning a new language.

“You have to be kind to yourself and not be frustrated, because you are only exposed to the language three hours [per week] in our system,” Ragone said.

She recommends listening to foreign music and watching foreign movies. Any experience gained outside the classroom can aid the overall learning process.

Most students also have not been world travelers, like Ragone, who has to count on her fingers just to remember all the places she has been. The longest she lived in one place, other than the United States, was 11 years in Algeria and then 11 years in Spain.

“I call it living if you live [there] more than six months and you have to pay taxes,” Ragone said jokingly.

Considering all the places Ragone has lived, one might wonder where she calls home.

“No where,” Ragone said, smiling at the very thought.

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