World Languages Day 2013: Merci! Kiitos! Gracias! Arigato! Grazie! Miigwech! Takk! Spasibo! Mahad! Sanid! Shukran! Danke! ...

Thank You

A big thank you to everyone who made World Languages Day 2013 possible. The event was a huge undertaking this year with a new itinerary, a return to the East Bank, a different Welcoming Remarks format, and more locations than ever before.

The event was a success because of our instructors, staff and volunteers. It is a broad group effort, and we could not pull off this event without the support of multiple colleges and units, including CLA, GPS Alliance, CCE, CEHD, CDes, Admissions, Facilities Management, Parking and Transportation and more. Instructors and volunteers include current students, instructors and staff in all classifications, and former university employees and students who came back to support an event they remembered fondly from their time at the university.

Here are some of the people who made this event possible:

The Core World Languages Day Development Team --
They worked on this event all year long

Francisco Salinas Vega, Trang Nguyen, Sara MacKenzie, Jenny Boe, Diane Rackowski, Boon Xiong


Francisco recruited most of the instructors, communicated with schools and handled the many administrative details required throughout the year ... and he did it all while completing his degree. Trang created the Welcoming Remarks PowerPoint presentation and recruited the Welcoming Remarks leaders. Sara recruited and trained all of the Admission Guides. Jenny scheduled most of the volunteers. Diane and Boon developed the website and website registration.

Our Building Captains --
The people with the walkie-talkies who managed each location

Jenny Boe, Catherine Clements, Trang Nguyen, Diane Rackowski, Francisco Salinas Vega, Stephanie Treat, Caroline Vang

Our Undergraduate Welcoming Remarks Leaders --
Each led remarks to 125 to 350 high school students

Angel Cecere, Holly Harrington, Laura Hoogeveen, Natalie Pascutoi, Brian Zarate

Our AV Techs --
Provided essential support for the Welcoming Remarks

Madison Olson-Spartz, Alyssa Ruesch, Keerthana Shankar, Hunter Slack, Henry Wahl

Our World Languages Day Instructors --
Talk about Essential! These are the folks who taught the day's classes

• Said Ahmed: Somali Culture and Language
• Rebecca Aylesworth: Sweden: From Viking Raids to Rap Music
• Lydia Belatèche: Les Délices de France: Learn to Eat (and Speak) like the French
• Nels Berge: Introduction to Italian: Benvenuti!
• Jim Bierma: So You Want to Be A Millionaire: How Preparing for College Can Help!
• Juliette Cherbuliez: From Atheists to Libertines: French Philosophy and the Limits of the Imagination
• Hangtae Cho: The Korean Alphabet in 40 Minutes
• Cristina Cocchi: Introduction to Italian: Benvenuti!
• Drew Coveyou: U of M Admissions: The Inside Scoop
• Rachael Cullick: How Many Ways Could a Roman Stick Out His Tongue?
• Paulien Detailleur: It Takes Tulips to Learn Dutch
• Narayan Dhakal: Nepal: A Nexus between Culture and the Environment
• Kait Dougherty: Where In The World Will U Go? Study Abroad as a College Student
• Mohammed Elmeski: Introduction to Arabic!
• Chantal Figueroa: Introduction to Candoble: An Animist Brazilian Religion
• Satty Flaherty-Echeverria: Portuguese for Students of Spanish
• Nanette Hanks: Following the Milky Way: On the Road to Santiago de Compostela
• Hanna-Ilona Härmävaara: Survival Finnish
• Stephanie Hernandez: Dominican Republic Culture Class (for Students of Spanish)
• Sungok Hong: Holi: Indian Spring Festival of Colors
• Cynthia Hornbeck: Introduction to Latin: Language of Gladiators, Lawyers, Poets and Witches
• Miguel Hurtado: Afro Cuban Music
• Minori Inada: Introduction to Japanese
• Rania Johnson: Big D Deaf: Deaf Culture in America
• Bryce Johnson: The Korean Alphabet in 40 Minutes
• Daniel Karvonen: Survival Finnish
• Beth Kautz: Survival German & Green Germany (taught in German for students of German)
• Keiko Kawakami: Introduction to Japanese
• Betsy Kerr: Parlez-vous franglais? Frenglish through the Ages
• April Knutson: Haiti: History of Mixed Cultures and Languages
• Kiley Kost: Sweden: From Viking Raids to Rap Music
• Qijie Li: Experiencing Chinese Language
• Jory Nagel: U of M Admissions: The Inside Scoop
• Rose Nguyen: Afro Cuban Music
• Anna Olivero: Introduction to Italian: Benvenuti!
• Jenneke Oosterhoff: It Takes Tulips to Learn Dutch
• Russell Packard: Afro Cuban Music
• Eva Palma Zuniga: Chile Culture Class (for Students of Spanish)
• James Parente: Sagas of the Vikings
• Paul Peterson: Introduction to Icelandic
• Barbara Pierre Louis: Excursion Brazil: Language, Food and Carnival
• Luis Ramos-Garcia: United States Latino Theater: Human and Civil Rights
• Kathy Rider: Italian Without Words: Introduction to Italian Gesture
• Maria Schweikert: Meet Cheburashka: Russia's Cutest Cultural Educator
• Ryan Seaberg: Eureka! The Greek Alphabet and the (R)Evolution of Writing
• Dan Soneson: A Virtual Walk Through Vienna
• Gabriela Sweet: Afro Cuban Music
• Rick Treece: Vive la Résistance! The French Resistance in World War II
• Meagan Tripp: Survival German
• Bee Vang: Hmong Survival Language Kit
• Pablo Viedma: ¡España es Diferente! (taught in Spanish for students of Spanish)
• Ishaa Vintinner: Big D Deaf: Deaf Culture in America
• Ling Wang: Instant Chinese
• Brian Zarate: Les Délices de France: Learn to Eat (and Speak) like the French
• Hanna Zmijewska-Emerson: The Face of Modern Norway
• Zhen Zou: Instant Chinese 

Our Staff and Volunteers --
Taking on the other numerous tasks not listed above

Maryan Abdi, Ahmed Abdimalik, Brandon Adams, Nada Al-Dakheelallah, Hind Aldakheelallah, Jama Ayanle, Steve Baker, Jenny Boe, Alejandra Catarino, Angel Cecere, Catherine Clements, Rachel Faynik Marbell, Ahmed Gedi, Holly Harrington, Laura Hoogeveen, Iuliia Kornilenko, Louis Janus, Kowsar Khuriye, Maxine Kobinski, Maulika Kohli, Yi-Ju Lai, Brianna Lopez, Abdulkarim Maalin, Anise McDowell, Saoirse McMahon, Madison Olson-Spartz, Susan McMillen Villar, Jade Molinier, Rose Nguyen, Trang Nguyen, Kaoru Nunn, Natalie Pascutoi, Joanne Peltonen, Diane Rackowski, Alyssa Ruesch, Francisco Salinas Vega, Dan Soneson, Sherry Scarborough, Keerthana Shankar, Hunter Slack, Ginny Steinhagen, Allison Suhan, Ian Taylor, Stephanie Treat, Caroline Vang, Henry Wahl, Soa Yang, Donming Yang, Brian Zarate, Ruth Zwick

And Thank You Participants

Finally, thank you to all the high school teachers, students, counselors and parents who took time out of their busy spring semester to come to this event. This kind of field trip is complicated to organize and execute, and we appreciate everyone's effort and good cheer on the day. We hope you enjoyed your visit to the University of Minnesota!