Whether they're learning French, Spanish or Latin, Warsaw Community High School students will celebrate National Foreign Language Week Monday through March 13, with a variety of activities planned.
According to French teacher Ann Slaughter, "We just wanted to focus on the languages of the world and have a week to do that."
Wednesday will be French Day, with Spanish Day being Thursday and Friday being for all the Latin lovers. The cafeteria will have lunches on those days prepared as close to the cultures as they can.
During the week, the school's Tiger Eye News will mention interesting facts about various countries and languages. In passing periods, a mix of the world languages will play over the intercom system. For Latin, Spanish teacher Shirlee Clevenger said, Italian music will be played.
On Wednesday, any WCHS student taking a world language will get to share in a breakfast from 6:45 to 7:30 a.m. Clevenger said the location is yet to be determined.
Wednesday and Thursday, students made posters for the hallways in preparation for foreign languages week.
Clevenger said the high school students also will be making a video for the eighth-graders about languages and why they are taking them. While WCHS only offers Spanish, French and Latin this year, Clevenger said, next year Warsaw hopes to have first-year Chinese.
Throughout March, Slaughter said, they will have guest speakers coming in to talk about their countries and culture in celebration of world languages.
Florin Podehl is an exchange student from Bavaria, Germany, and knows four languages, including German, English, French and Spanish. He said he wants to learn more because he loves languages and wants to use that passion to work in diplomacy.
Podehl said it's important to have the foreign languages week "because it's important to understand different cultures. To understand them, you have to understand different languages to go there."
He said he came to the U.S. to understand its culture.
Leidy Ferreri speaks English and is studying Spanish.
"I was born in Columbia, but I moved here," she said. "I've taken Spanish since first grade."
She said it's important to celebrate the week "to recognize there's other cultures out there and not just our own."
"To broaden their horizons, to be able to communicate with other people, especially if they want to travel," Cheaney Maierle said of why learning another language is important.
She said she's studying Spanish "because I want to be an elementary teacher, and I want to be able to speak to my Spanish-speaking students and be able to communicate with them."
Senior Kellen Lemler wanted to study French, but his mother wanted him to learn the language of his family. His grandmother is from Mexico, and his grandfather is from Spain. They met in Texas.
He said the week is important because it's "important to get along with other people. To communicate with other cultures."
"It's important to understand other cultures so we can get along better," said senior Eric Smolen.
"Since America is multicultural, it's important to be on a level where we can understand each other and appreciate other cultures," said Harrison Green, senior.
"A lot of countries around the world take English, they require it in school. In America, you have to seize the opportunity to explore another country," said Wesley Craig.
Craig said he's studying Spanish because of how great a teacher Clevenger is.
"I stuck with Spanish because of the global competition for jobs. Being bilingual is very important," said Green.
According to information provided by Slaughter, Alpha Mu Gamma is the official sponsor of National Foreign Language Week.
The week was inaugurated in spring 1957 by Alpha Mu Gamma. Sister Eloise Therese, national president from 1956 to 1960, discovered that such a week had never been officially celebrated in the United States as a whole.
Inspired by her, the National Council of Alpha Mu Gamma began to formulate plans to make the United States aware of the need for and importance of foreign language study through the celebration of NFLW.The first celebration was set for the week of Feb. 17 to 23 in 1957. Each year since, the National Executive Council of Alpha Mu has set a week for the event. In recent years, it has become the practice to have NFLW during the first week of March.
The official theme for 2011 is "Languages Make the World Go 'Round".
