National Foreign Language Week
Foreign Language Weeks are celebrated worldwide during different periods of the year to raise awareness of the benefits of learning a language while recognising that the world is becoming increasingly globalised and interconnected.
The origins of National Foreign Language Week date back to the Spring of 1957. The National President of Alpha Mu Gamma, Sister Eloise Therese, realised that this week had never been officially celebrated in the United States overall. Until this point, it had only received recognition from various educational institutions, at various different dates throughout the calendar year. Inspired by Sister Therese’s realisation, the National Executive Council of Alpha Mu Gamma sought to create awareness throughout the United States of the importance of studying foreign languages. They believed that National Foreign Language Week provided a great opportunity to raise awareness to that end. The first such celebration of NFLW was set for the week of February 17-23, 1957.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to endorse the celebration, and this tradition has continued ever since, with each succeeding president giving their support to the celebration. Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist, Bruce Russell, who won the prize for his contribution towards greater world understanding through his cartoons, provided the posters for NFLW each year until his death in 1963. Russell providing these posters and support to NFLW highlights the role he believed languages could play in bringing the people of the world together.
Alpha Mu Gamma continues to organise activities each year for NFLW. Their purpose is still the same all these years later, to highlight the necessity and importance of learning foreign languages. The group organise activities during the week to make the language-learning process more fun, interesting and engaging. An example of some of these projects includes newspaper articles, foreign language films, songs, or creating radio/television programs. The tradition of NFLW was soon taking hold all over the country and now it is standard practice in many universities, colleges and schools across the United States.
How can Nualang help you celebrate?
1. Create custom courses to celebrate elements of different cultures
Teachers can create specific courses to help highlight and celebrate a particular country’s culture, perhaps by creating content related to their food or history, etc. This can help immerse students in culture while learning the language.
2. Encourage learning through communication.
Students can use Nualang to practise their communication skills in the language that they are learning. Nualang offers various features that encourage students to communicate. Users can practise their conversation skills with our chatbots and Nualas. Through our features, students can actively practise their listening, translation, and pronunciation skills in a fun and interactive environment.
3. Set challenges and track progress through the week.
Make learning fun and set exercises/challenges throughout the course of the week and track students' progress. Everybody loves a bit of a challenge! Upload content and use our game modes to make the learning experience fun and interactive for students. These game modes are a great way to help celebrate foreign language week.
