World Languages Week Opens Minds to Language

“Opening Your Mind to Language” for World Languages Week at Sayville High School

Every year, Sayville High School World Languages Department enhances classroom instruction by showcasing world cultures with festivities, art, music, and trivia to celebrate World Languages Week. “The purpose of World Languages Week,” explained World Languages Department Chairperson Stephanie Bricker, “is to emphasize the importance of global communication and the benefits of learning a second or third language.”

This year’s event at Sayville High School was held the week of March seventh. In anticipation, the World Languages hallways and doors had been decorated by members of the World Languages Honor Society with colorful flags, images and a “Hall of Fame” display. The effect was to transport the High School students to different cultures and to introduce them to important figures. Among the prominent French- and Spanish-speaking individuals honored in the “Hall of Fame” door displays were Kylian Mbappé Lottin  and Diana Trujillo. 

• Kylian Mbappé Lottin is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Widely considered as one of the best players in the world, he is known for his dribbling, explosive speed, and clinical finishing.
• Diana Trujillo is a Colombian aerospace engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the flight director for NASA’s Perseverance Rover which successfully landed on Mars earlier this year.

In addition, the World Languages teachers offered scavenger hunts, fun phrases of the day, and a musical guessing game. Students also expressed their artistic sides and made posters featuring this year's theme: “Open your mind to language.”

The World Languages Week celebration is not only meant to open the minds of students. It also aims to encourage future exploration—whether it be through actual world travel or global interconnectivity via language skills—of this awesome, culturally and linguistically diverse world.

“Opening Your Mind to Language” for World Languages Week at Sayville High School

Every year, Sayville High School World Languages Department enhances classroom instruction by showcasing world cultures with festivities, art, music, and trivia to celebrate World Languages Week. “The purpose of World Languages Week,” explained World Languages Department Chairperson Stephanie Bricker, “is to emphasize the importance of global communication and the benefits of learning a second or third language.”

This year’s event at Sayville High School was held the week of March seventh. In anticipation, the World Languages hallways and doors had been decorated by members of the World Languages Honor Society with colorful flags, images and a “Hall of Fame” display. The effect was to transport the High School students to different cultures and to introduce them to important figures. Among the prominent French- and Spanish-speaking individuals honored in the “Hall of Fame” door displays were Kylian Mbappé Lottin  and Diana Trujillo. 

• Kylian Mbappé Lottin is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Widely considered as one of the best players in the world, he is known for his dribbling, explosive speed, and clinical finishing.
• Diana Trujillo is a Colombian aerospace engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the flight director for NASA’s Perseverance Rover which successfully landed on Mars earlier this year.

In addition, the World Languages teachers offered scavenger hunts, fun phrases of the day, and a musical guessing game. Students also expressed their artistic sides and made posters featuring this year's theme: “Open your mind to language.”

The World Languages Week celebration is not only meant to open the minds of students. It also aims to encourage future exploration—whether it be through actual world travel or global interconnectivity via language skills—of this awesome, culturally and linguistically diverse world.