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On April 22, 2008, over 700 students and teachers from 26 Wisconsin high schools came to World Languages Day to attend a day of workshops on languages and cultures. Participants got a taste of what it’s like to be a UW-Madison student, with each participant attending sessions given by UW-Madison faculty, staff and students according to a personalized schedule.
50 sessions were held throughout the day with titles such as "German Fairy Tales: The Grimm Tradition," "Play Indonesian Trivia and Win Prizes!!, and "Folksongs and Linguistic Diversity in Wisconsin”. Sessions highlighted the university's rich offerings in languages and cultures. In many cases, presenters looked at language through a cultural lens: Swahili clothing, Yoruba hip-hop films, food of Scandinavia, Russian fairy tales, French film, to name a few topics. In other sessions, basics of a language were taught, with sessions on Vietnamese, Urdu, Japanese, Quichua, and Hmong, to name a few.
WLD participants were welcomed by keynote speakers Gilles Bousquet, Dean of International Studies, Director of the International Institute, and Professor of French; Magdalena Hauner, Associate Dean of the Humanities in Letters & Science and Professor of Swahili; and Sally Sieloff Magnan, Language Institute Director and Professor of French.
Lunchtime entertainment was provided by members of the UW Band and by Bucky Badger. The band offered rousing renditions of music played at UW athletic events, while Bucky mingled and charmed the crowd.
Special teacher sessions included "Leveling the Playing Field for Foreign Language Students with Special Needs," "More than You Bargained For: Spanish Culture, Cities, and Money," and "Bring the World Home: Taking WLD Back to your Schools."
A closing concert brought the day to an end with a music and dance program by Peggy Choy of the Center for Southeast Asia. The concert included Javanese Warriors Meet the Worlds of Gods and Ogres and Spoken Word and Dance: Expression Through the Kaen, the Hmong Musical Instrument. The audience was spellbound as they watched the beautiful and intricate dances.
We look forward to World Languages Day 2009 on April 20!
World Language Day is a program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Language Institute. It is made possible with the generous support from the College of Letters & Science Anonymous Fund; and the following UW-Madison Area Studies Programs: African Studies; Center for East Asian Studies; Center for European Studies, Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia; Center for South Asia; Global Studies; and Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies.
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