Beginning on April 8, World Language Week highlights the different languages offered at Marlborough with events like craft-making, a crêpe-making workshop, a food and tea tasting and a Pushing Perspectives.
Because it coincides with the year of the Olympic Games, the celebration’s theme is the World Language Olympics. To fit the concept, the activity on Game Day on April 10 showcases each language course in various cultural games related to each of the languages. These games include pétanque (a French form of lawn bowling), lotería (which is similar to bingo), gonggi (a Korean children’s game usually played with pebbles or colorful stones) and jian zi (a game similar to badminton).
“Game Day [represents] all of our languages through games, activities, treats and some fun and friendly competition,” World Languages Department Head Andrea Fuentes said.
World Language Week will also celebrate immigrant culture with a Pushing Perspectives featuring award-winning photographer Emanuel Hahn. He will talk about his collection of photographs and interviews compiled into his debut book, “Koreatown Dreaming,” which highlights the Korean-American experience with photos of Koreatown.
Korean Language Instructor YoonJu Lee, who helped coordinate Hahn’s Pushing Perspectives, hopes her homage to Koreatown will inspire students wanting to learn more about Korean and Korean-American culture.
“Within Marlborough, since we’re so close to K-Town, and as our Korean program grows, I think more students [will be] interested in learning about not just Korean culture, but I think it’s also important to learn about Korean-American history,” Lee said.
World Language Week is just one of many examples of the new projects the World Language Department is hoping to take on and has already implemented this school year.
“As a department, we’re taking a lot of new initiatives this year with the Intro to World Languages Class, and also World Language Week, and a lot of different Pushing Perspectives and events we’ve already done this year,” Lee said. “I think it’s really great, and I’m really excited to see how it’s going to be received by the students.”
The ultimate objective of World Language Week is to foster an appreciation for the interconnectedness that languages offer us through activities and presentations that aim to help students gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and languages.
“My biggest hope is that students walk away from this week with an interest in a new language or simply enjoy learning something new about another language,” Fuentes said.
