High Schools Mark Year of Languages with Cultural Events (03/31/2005)
by Katherine Marcotte , The Bristol Press
BRISTOL -- The American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages has declared 2005 as the Year of the Languages, aiming to promote foreign language education and worldwide celebration. To help celebrate, both Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern high schools have been participating in cultural events since January.
While she is busy teaching at both schools, Spanish teacher Erin Clements has been holding monthly language programs that she hopes encourages high school students to learn a foreign language. In January, Clements and other teachers and staff members at Eastern, instructed students in making hundreds of valentines in various languages, including French,
Spanish and Italian. The valentines were delivered throughout the school.
A bulletin board in the world language hallway hangs with interesting facts about the school instructors’ experiences abroad. At Central, Amanda Robustelli, a French teacher, took on the multicultural events. "We want to focus on how important it is for students to learn a language other than English," Robustelli said. In January, Robustelli passed out a language quiz to her fellow teachers and students. Students were surprised to learn that Chinese, Spanish, English, Bengali and Hindi were the five most-spoken languages in the world. In March, Central held a "language culture taster," in which students sampled a variety of world languages, including Chinese and Hebrew.
"Almost the entire language department participated," Robustelli said. "The students really liked learning Chinese."
Robustelli said 1,260 students are signed up to take foreign language classes next year. "That’s really outstanding for Bristol because we don’t start teaching languages in the schools until 9th-grade," Robustelli said.
As with Eastern’s language bulletin board project, Central students are viewing interesting facts about their teachers. "We were really shocked to learn that one of our teachers [Mary Kay Gregor] had lived in Italy and visited over 20 countries,"
Robustelli said.
During April, Central students will make teacher appreciation cards in different world languages and deliver them to their favorite teachers. But, to celebrate the Year of the Languages to its fullest potential, nearly 50 students will gather their passports and head to different parts of the world. "The trip really ties into the big idea," Robustelli said. "The students will experience another culture firsthand." Central students will be practicing their "bonjours" and "au revoirs" when they board a flight to Paris April 12. Upon arrival, students will head to Lycée Jean-Monnet, a town located about 40 minutes’ travel from Paris. In the past, Central students stayed in French hotels. However, this year to be fully submerged into French culture, they will stay with their French peers in their homes.
During their visit to Lycée Jean-Monnet, students will also make day trips to popular tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower and a WWII museum.
Eastern students will practice their "holas" when they venture to Spain April 15. Teachers from both high schools are hoping to make the cultural exchange program a yearly event and have already started planning language programs for the 2005-06 school year. ©The Bristol Press 2005
