Alexx Sanchez
asanch16@uwyo.edu
During the weekend the University of the Wyoming held its fourth annual World Languages Day or WLD in the education building.
Middle school and high school students came from around the state as far as Cody to visit the campus and to learn about the languages offered at UW. The students visited for two days. During the first day, they got a tour of the campus.
“The student visitors were exposed to many facets of UW. They had a talk from admissions and a tour of the campus,” Mollie Hand, one of the coordinators for WLD, said.
Hand also acts as an academic advisor for the modern and classical languages department.
The students also ate in Washakie and spoke with representatives from departments such as international studies and secondary education. By being able to interact with and visit the UW campus, it makes them feel empowered to become a future student, Hand said.
“They were exposed to the fact that we still had good courses available in languages so they can see a future in majoring in world languages and see what career possibilities they could have,” Hand said.
On the second day, the students participated in an all-day event talking to different language programs offered on campus.
Dr. Joy Landeira, department chair of modern and classical languages, said nine languages were represented at WLD. Some of these languages included French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese.
Throughout the halls of the education building, professors and college students set up display tables. At the tables, they told the visiting students about the benefits in participating in a language program.
Reda Mohammed, graduate teaching assistant for Arabic, said why she decided to present at WLD.
“It’s part of my assistantship and also it’s my language. I am an ambassador for my language so I would like to present it to American students and American people,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed said she not only gets to represent the language, but also the culture. Her job is to mix the two.
At WLD, the programs had the opportunity to show the culture behind each language with workshops that had different cultural activities. A few of the cultural activities were origami, Chinese tea ceremony and Arabic calligraphy.
In the education auditorium, the middle and high school students displayed artwork and put on performances for professors to judge. The performances served as a way for these students to share what they know about different cultures.
Many of the professors and university students felt that WLD is incredibly beneficial for the visiting students for a variety of reasons.
“It encourages them to study languages in junior high and high school. If they start in another place, they don’t have to start from the beginning,” Landeira said. “They can place at higher levels and begin on a major or minor.”
If students study a language, it not only allows them an opportunity to earn a major or minor, but also a chance to study abroad. Landeira said being a part of a study abroad program is something a student will never forget, and it is a great opportunity to practice the language.
Other students think this is an excellent time to promote language courses to prevent future program losses.
“I think it is good to promote languages. They are not as well promoted here as they could be. They discontinued the Russian major and there’s no Chinese major. I think it’s important to keep up with what we have,” Hollie Welch, UW global and area studies graduate student, said.
Others thought this was a great opportunity to bring different cultures to one place.
“I think it’s a good way to bring people together,” Akio Palmer, junior in high school, said.
