The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) has designated February as Discover Languages® Month, and has developed a national campaign to raise awareness about the cognitive, academic, social, cultural and economic benefits that language learning provides our nation's students.
Carolyn Perry, WKCTC associate professor of Spanish said, “The college provides a variety of opportunities to educate our students and the community about multiculturalism. Learning a language is just one part of the equation.”
WKCTC offers multiple sections of Spanish on campus for Elementary Spanish; Elementary French and Chinese are offered online. Classes are interactive and give students an opportunity to speak the language, while learning the basic structures. Last month students of the Spanish 102 classes practiced “real life” shopping dialogs by creating markets in the classroom.
“Cultural events are always a part of the learning the language,” said Perry. For the last six years WKCTC has celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with presentations from guest speakers and artists. To heighten students’ interest in this year’s WKCTC sponsored study abroad trip to Spain, Perry invited Louisville’s Flamenco Academy of Arts to perform on campus. Two dancers and a Spanish guitarist demonstrated the energizing and soulful art of flamenco dancing for more than 500 WKCTC students, faculty, staff and community members. In addition, the audience sampled Spanish tapas, prepared by the WKCTC culinary arts department.
WKCTC’s Study Abroad program is another educational offering for students to learn about other cultures on a more personal level. While only a handful of students can make the financial commitment, “those that have gone always come back saying the experience has changed them for a life-time,” said Pat Blaine, WKCTC Education professor and tour director. “The students clearly observe the cultural differences, but they also experience the human connection and come to a greater understanding of themselves and the world,” said Blaine. The Study Abroad program this year will take students on a ten-day tour to Spain: Land of Many Cultures, stopping in Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Córdoba, Granada and Barcelona on May 15-25.
WKCTC students, faculty and staff can contact Pat Blaine for more details about the study abroad trip to Spain at (270) 534-3207 or pat.blaine@kctcs.edu.
Perry adds, “The most gratifying part of teaching a language is that students will return to tell me ‘I got my dream job because I knew Spanish.’ It’s definitely part of today’s reality: we live in a multicultural society that demands that we not only appreciate the differences but actively learn and engage in many cultures. We’re proud that WKCTC continues to meet that demand.”