UNK’s Modern Languages and International Studies Department hosted its annual World Language Week earlier this month. The event offered students, faculty and staff a chance to explore diverse languages and cultures.
World Language Week highlighted a range of global cultures and languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, German and Japanese.
“World Language Week is about showcasing, promoting and helping people discover different cultures,” said Chris Jacobs, assistant professor of modern languages and the organizer of World Language Week. “It is especially about all the cultures of the world that predominantly speak languages other than English. We have no agenda other than discovery, curiosity and acceptance.”
World Language Week gave students, faculty and staff an opportunity to get involved on campus.
By engaging in World Language Week activities, attendees immersed themselves in an environment that promotes learning. The events introduced participants to new languages, cultures, people, food and beverages.
“It creates a meeting point and a talking point for people from all academic disciplines, whether they’re students, faculty or staff, to come together to share their thoughts and learn new things,” said Michelle Warren, director of Modern Languages and International Studies. “It opens up a lot of doors for us to discuss things that we might not have discovered about each other.”
Ella Breitkreutz, president of the Spanish Club, attended the “It’s Sweet to Be Multilingual” event and the five-minute language lessons.
“Coming from a small community, it’s hard to learn about diversity and people with different experiences,” Breitkreutz said. “This is a really good way for people to connect, come together and share their culture.”
This year marks the third annual World Language Week celebration at UNK. The faculty of the Modern Languages and International Studies Department organized the events throughout the week and started preparing for the celebration at the start of the fall semester.
Upperclass students within the modern languages program and native speakers of the celebrated languages helped lead the events. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff from the UNK community participate in celebrating World Language Week every year.
One or two events were held every day of the week. An international game night was held on Monday, featuring board games in languages other than English. On Tuesday, English conversation tables were hosted by the English Language Institute.
A study abroad information session was presented on Wednesday. This session included information about UNK’s study abroad program, which ranges from two-week excursions during the summer to full school-year programs.
Five-minute language lessons were held on Thursday, rotating between six to eight languages. The “It’s Sweet to Be Multilingual” event, which offered food and drinks from 10 different world language areas, was also held on Thursday. On Friday, the international coffee break event took place. This event offered attendees a choice of coffee, tea and other hot drinks, as well as snacks.
World Language Week celebrated languages and cultures across the world, connecting the UNK community.
“Everyone has a story to tell,” Jacobs said. “We want to hear all their stories and we welcome everyone.”
Photos by Gabby Roche and Micah Torres / Antelope Staff
