New Courseshare Offerings for 2014-2015: Persian, Vietnamese, Yoruba and Indonesian

University students have four new language choices! The following new or returning languages will be offered through the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Courseshare program: Beginning Persian (Farsi), Vietnamese and Yoruba, and Intermediate Indonesian.

CIC Courseshare uses technology for instruction and communication to expand the opportunities for language study available at any one university. Students will register for and earn credit through the University of Minnesota. Here is a list of the Fall 2014 offerings:

• Beginning Persian I (PERS 1011). Offered remotely from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Monday-Thursday, 1:20 - 2:10 p.m.


• Beginning Vietnamese I: (VIET 1011). Offered remotely from Michigan State University. This is a completely online class.


• Beginning Yoruba I (CLA-1200-002). Offered remotely from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Monday-Friday, 8:50 - 9:40 a.m. A permission number is required to register for this course.


• Intermediate Indonesian I (CLA 1200-001). Offered remotely from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Monday-Thursday, 9:55 - 10:45 a.m. A permission number is required to register for this course.

For more information and permission numbers, please contact Pablo Viedma at viedma@umn.edu. Please note that some classes may already be full.

Backwards Design Workshop for Language Instructors: Monday, July 28, 2014

The Language Center is pleased to announce an upcoming professional development and curriculum development opportunity for CLA language instructors. By popular demand, Professor Martha Bigelow will lead a follow up to the May 21-22 "Yes They Can" workshop which focused on backwards design. This July workshop is an opportunity for instructors to receive feedback on their curricular ideas and activities and to collaborate with instructors from other language programs. Although it is intended as a continuation of the previous workshop, all CLA language instructors instructors are invited to attend. A light lunch will be provided.

Monday, July 28, 2014
12:00 - 4:00 p.m
Location TBA

Space is limited and registration is required. Please register online by Friday, July 18.

Martha Bigelow is an Associate Professor with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Interim Director of the Educator Development and Research Center. She has worked with several universities around the globe, including Vietnam, Malaysia, and Costa Rica, to apply the theory of "backwards design" to help instructors create new curricula and materials for their language programs.

Tandem Plus for Summer: Small but Vibrant!

Language instructors: The TandemPlus will open registration for Summer Semester on Monday, June 16, 2014. The summer program is small but incredibly diverse, so please encourage your language students to register, even if they have tried and have not been paired before.

Registration will open online at the TandemPlus registration site.

Also, we welcome Jonathan Prestrud as the summer TandemPlus assistant. Jonathan has worked in Classroom Support at the Language Center since Fall 2013 and is currently helping with TandemPlus is addition to his Classroom Support duties.

World Languages Day Returns to Northrop

World Languages Day (WLD) at the University of Minnesota continued its tradition of success with the eleventh annual event, held on May 20, 2014. This year more than 1000 enthusiastic students came to campus from 23 schools from near and far. One teacher commented:

"This is a great opportunity for students to have. Many of my students are never in the cities and it is good for them to get out of their comfort zone... My rural students need this experience so much!"

Students voiced their appreciation for meeting new people at the event as well, stating that the event was "very fun and I enjoyed the campus and attending these classes with other schools."

This year's event brought some exciting new changes. The beautifully remodeled Northrop Auditorium was well received as the location for Welcoming Remarks. Having an auditorium large enough to seat all attendees at the same presentation created a sense of community for the event. One teacher commented, "I like that the entire group of participants were seated together rather than split into smaller groups." Additional spaces in Northrop were used for informational college-readiness and Admissions sessions, and a few language and culture classes. Guests at the event were very impressed by the beauty of this newly-reopened space.

This year's World Languages Day also featured an expanded emphasis on heritage and immersion language learning. The event featured a greater number of classes taught in the target language for learners studying Chinese, German, and Spanish. Additionally, some new classes were added this year that focused on students' conversational and self-assessment skills. The TandemPlus class was a highlight of many students' WLD experience, with one student of Chinese commenting, "I feel adventurous!" after participating in conversations with native speakers. The self-assessment classes were likewise well received, with comments such as "It helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses in speaking French," and "[It is] very interesting to be able to hear your own voice and to assess yourself."

Students expressed enthusiasm for all of the classes offered this year and the instructors who volunteered to teach them with comments such as "I actually want to learn Portuguese in the future because of this class", "I really enjoyed this, the instructor was super nice and now I really want to learn Japanese and go to Japan!" and "The teacher was really fun and lit up the room!"

World Languages Day 2014 was summed up best by a student who simply wrote, "It was great!! Go Gophers!!"

World Languages Day 2014: A Giant Thank You to All!

A giant thank you to everyone who made World Languages Day 2014 possible. This year's event featured a return to Northrop, a new itinerary and more classes and classrooms 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, 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 --
You'll notice that some people wore many hats!

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

Ellen Buckner, Anna Kaminski, Sara Mackenzie, Margie McGee-Newton, Diane Rackowski & Alaina Witt

Ellen and Anna recruited most of the instructors, communicated with schools and handled the many administrative details required throughout the year. The end of the event was bittersweet, because it was Anna's last day as a Language Center employee! Margie helped recruit the Welcoming Remarks leaders. Sara recruited and trained all of the Admission Guides. Diane and Alaina updated the website which provides registration for the event and the WLD video.

Our Building Captains & Other Special Support --
The people with the walkie-talkies who managed each location

Ellen Buckner, Anna Kaminski, Diane Rackowski, Jenise Rowekamp, Keerthana Shankar, Hunter Slack, Stephanie Treat, and Caroline Vang

Our Undergraduate Welcoming Remarks Leaders --
They co-lead led the remarks to 1100 high school students

Jonathan Prestrud and Nivie Roberts

Our Classroom Support Techs --
Provided essential technical support for the Welcoming Remarks and classes throughout the day

Fatima Babu, Jenny Boe, Alyssa Bonnac, Maya Christensen, Scott Eaton, Jonathan Prestrud, Diane Rackowski, Keerthana Shankar, Caroline Vang, Henry Wahl and Alaina Witt

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

• Monica Barbieri: Introduction to Italian: Benvenuti!
• 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!
• Martha Bigelow: ¡Wacala!/Yuck!
• Juliette Cherbuliez: From Atheists to Libertines: French Philosophy and the Limits of the Imagination
• Hangtae Cho: The Korean Alphabet in 40 Minutes
• Kate Clements: TandemPlus Chinese Language Exchange
  Assisted by Chinese Language Partners:   Junhua Chen, Yuyang Fan, Yi-Ju Lai, Sun Li, Zhaoxiang Lin, Xuewu Qin, Jin Stone, Qian Wang, Qingying Xue, and Yufei Zhao
• Cristina Cocchi: Introduction to Italian: Benvenuti!
• Rachael Cullick: How Many Ways Could a Roman Stick Out His Tongue?
• Yuliya Dzhol: Basic Ojibwe
• Mohammed Elmeski: Introduction to Arabic!
• Satty Flaherty-Echeverria: Portuguese for Students of Spanish
• Daniela Goldfine: ¡Bienvenidos a Argentina!
• Abdelkader Hamouchi: Introduction to Arabic!
• Stephanie Hernandez: Dominican Republic Culture Class
• Maria Hofmann: Sweden: From Viking Raids to Rap Music
• Sungok Hong: Holi: Indian Spring Festival of Colors & Come Enjoy Bhangra Dance!
• Minori Inada: Introduction to Japanese
• Ruben Joanem: Haiti: History of Mixed Cultures and Languages
• Marlene Johnshoy: Using Technology to Hunt for Language Treasure
• Bryce Johnson: The Korean Alphabet in 40 Minutes
• Anna Kaminski: The Arab Avant-Garde: From Egyptian Surrealism to Palestinian Hip Hop
• Daniel Karvonen: Survival Finnish
• Beth Kautz: Green Germany
• Keiko Kawakami: Introduction to Japanese
• Betsy Kerr: Parlez-vous franglais? Frenglish through the Ages
• April Knutson: Haiti: History of Mixed Cultures and Languages
• Viviana Limon: Wacala!/Yuck!
• Maxwell LeYang: Hmong Culture
• Chi-ping Li: Instant Chinese
• Qijie Li: Experiencing Chinese Language
• Jacqueline Listemaa: Sweden: From Viking Raids to Rap Music
• Sara MacKenzie: U of M Admissions: The Inside Scoop
• Sidow Mohammed: Introduction to Arabic!
• Brad Neubarth: Big D Deaf: Deaf Culture in America
• John Nordstrom: Sweden: From Viking Raids to Rap Music
• Anna Olivero-Agney: Introduction to Italian: Benvenuti!
• Paul Peterson: Introduction to Icelandic<
• Catalina Phan: U of M Admissions: The Inside Scoop
• Luis Ramos-Garcia: United States Latino Theater: Human and Civil Rights
• Matthias Rothe: A Song, Two Poems, Two Paintings - Messages in a Bottle from Socialist Germany
• Ryan Seaberg: Eureka! The Greek Alphabet and (R)evolution of Writing
• Rachel Sherman Johnson: International Game Time
  Assisted by Game Leaders:   Carlo Fernandez, Alex Fox, Nivie Roberts, Chris Michaels and Alaina Witt
• Ginny Steinhagen: Bastelstunde! German Arts & Crafts
• Gabriela Sweet: Self Assessment for Chinese, French, German, Spanish and Spanish Immersion Students
• Kenichi Tazawa: The Art of Paper Folding 'Origami'
• Rick Treece: Vive la Rèsistance! The French Resistance in World War II
• Emilie Van Leemput: Nederland, Land Van Tolerantie (Netherlands, Country of Tolerance) & Overleven in Nederland (Survival Dutch) & Wat Maakt Nederland, Nederland? (Dutch Culture)
• Pablo Viedma: ¡España es Diferente!
• Eva Von Dassow: Cuneiform Tablet Demo
• Pei-Cheng Wei: Instant Chinese
• Maria Wentworth: Where in the World Will U Go? Study Abroad as a College Student
• Alex Zeibot: Big D Deaf: Deaf Culture in America
• Yongling Zhang-Gorke: Zhong Gua Hua: Learn Chinese through Popular Songs
• Hanna Zmijewska-Emerson: The Face of Modern Norway
• Zhen Zou: Instant Chinese
• Eva Palma Zuniga: Chilean Culture Class

Admissions Guides --
Helping students find their classes and providing information about the university

Alyssa Anderson, Emily Ask, Katie Ask, Emily Csuy, John Jurgens, Jack Joyce-Lynch, Andrea Larson, Brian Miller, Emily Myers, Ryan Olson, Catalina Phan, Riley Webster

Our Check in and Classroom Assistants --
Helping with Check in, assisting in classes and so much more!

Fatima Babu, Ellen Buckner, Carlo Fernandez, Alex Fox, Louis Janus, Rachel Sherman Johnson, Mory Kaba, Na Hee Lee-Workman, Chris Michaels, Patrick O'Brien, Cheryl Oulicky, Joanne Peltonen, Jonathan Prestrud, Erica Qualheim, Crystal Rose, Rachel Sherman Johnson, Carol Skalko, Hunter Slack, Dan Soneson, Stephanie Treat and Sao Yang

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!