The Language Lab, tucked away on the second floor of Hoffman, has quietly supported language learning at the school for nearly two decades. Used primarily by the language department for assessments, listening exercises and AP exams, the lab remains a specialized space designed to strengthen students’ speaking and comprehension skills across multiple languages.
Built around 2006, the Language Lab was created to meet a growing need within the department. Language Department Chair and Spanish teacher Zachary Erwin ’96 described how the functionality of the lab provided an added layer of convenience for faculty and students alike.
“(The Language Lab) was built so that we could do listening and recorded speaking activities, and also for testing,” Erwin said. “When I was a student, we had to go to Hockaday to use their lab to record our AP responses,” Erwin said. “It has been very helpful to have a language lab here.”
While the physical space has remained largely unchanged, the technology inside it has evolved. The lab, Erwin explained, originally relied on hardware from a company called Sanako, but that equipment has since aged and is no longer supported.
As a result, the department transitioned to Sanako Connect, an online language teaching platform, to allow for more accessible learning.
“(The Sanako hardware) is old, very expensive to replace, and no longer supported by the company, which is why we moved to the Sanako Connect, a web-based platform,” Erwin said. “We can still use it inside the lab itself, but students can also use it at home or in the regular classrooms.”
Gene and Alice Oltrogge Master Teaching Chair and Chinese Teacher Janet Lin said the lab continues to play a crucial role in her classes. Lin believes the lab is especially valuable for maintaining academic integrity during assessments.
“I use (the Language Lab) because of the equipment, the listening and speaking parts, because I can record right away, and then there’s the app, I can just lock your internet,” Lin said. “So (there’s) less worry about (students committing academic dishonesty).”
Despite its usefulness, Lin emphasizes that the aging technology and logistical challenges surrounding maintenance make the lab’s future uncertain.
“But again, the equipment there is pretty old: hardware, software, both are old,” Lin said. “And how we can keep it and maintain it, regarding the budget and manpower and IT, it’s beyond my control.”
As the equipment grows older and older, students and teachers hope that the lab will soon be remodeled and its equipment — headphones, keyboards and desktops — updated. For now, the Language Lab remains a dedicated space for language instruction and testing, with no immediate plans for removal.
“Since the Language Lab was installed when the Hoffman Center was built, it’s been the lab,” Erwin said. “Our plan for now is to keep it as the lab.”
