Foreign Language Week gives students opportunity to explore different cultures

Georgia College & State University will host National Foreign Language Week beginning on March 24 and lasting through March 28. The week will consist of informative movies and presentations led by professors and students.

Alpha Mu Gamma is the official national sponsor of NFLW and founded the event in 1957. Dwight D. Eisenhower endorsed the celebration, as have preceding presidents.

Dr. Rossana Pattroni, assistant professor of Spanish, is organizing the event with the help of the other foreign language faculty.

“We will be showing movies each night of the week,” said Pattroni. “We will show two French movies and one in Spanish, German and Japanese.”

Each night the movies will be introduced by the professors and then a brief explanation and discussion will follow the viewing.

Wednesday morning in the auditorium there will be a presentation with many events.

“Some professors will sing songs with their students in both Spanish and Japanese. Dr. Bourne will read poems that he translated from Spanish to English, and students will read poems in French that they wrote,” said Pattroni.

Dr. Dwight Call will also give a presentation on the opportunities for students with the study abroad program.

Dr. Roger Noel, the chair of the foreign language department and a French professor, looks forward to the presentations and how the event may impact GC&SU students.

“We are hoping that the students will show up at the auditorium to see what they can get involved with at GC&SU. I am excited about the students singing and reading,” said Noel.

The week of events will be directly targeted at students as an encouragement to explore other cultures.

Senior Jason Medlin plans to attend the event.

“I am very interested in other countries and how they differ from the United States. I look forward to attending the events and to hearing the poems that will be read. I enjoy writing poems myself and this will give me a great look into other styles and cultures,” said Medlin.

“We hope to make the students more aware of the other countries and languages and how they can get involved here at GC&SU,” said Pattroni.

For more information on National Foreign Language Week, you may contact Dr. Rossana Pattroni at 445-0950 or at pattroni@mail.gcsu.edu.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 14 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry