The Department of Language and Literature at ACU believes in the importance of reading, reasoning, and writing effectively in order to serve God in an information-driven world.
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We are tentatively looking for three to four people to assist us in FLSP 111 labs. The lab is for Beginning Spanish, and your duties would consist of assisting students with grammar and vocabulary questions, completing online homework, proctoring exams and fulfilling “I Can Do…” speaking activities.
Lab times are tentatively scheduled for TR 3-6pm, but that may change, depending on student’s ability to come at least once a week during these times. Your hours are also negotiable: you don’t have to be able to work the entire time. Also, our budget is not yet set, so we don’t know how many people we can hire, nor for how many hours a week. We hope to get a budget by Friday and be able to sort all this out then.
The North American Christian Foreign Language Association is holding its annual conference here at ACU. It will be held mostly in the Hunter Welcome Center, from Thursday 4/7 through Saturday 4/9. Things of general interest include:
Dr. Susan Felch, from Calvin College, will be the plenary speaker on Thursday evening.
Multi-lingual devotionals on Friday and Saturday morning, possibly may get additional Chapel credit (still looking into it).
Two sessions devoted to Study Abroad on Saturday morning. Would be of great value for those remotely interested in study abroad.
For students in a foreign language class, possible additional credit or replacement of low scores on an assignment for attending a session and completing an activity associated with it (check with your instructor).
See the entire program at http://blogs.acu.edu/nacfla.
The University of Alcalá was founded in 1499 by Cardinal Cisneros. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe. UNESCO granted the University the distinction of World Heritage Site in 1998.
THE PROGRAM INCLUDES:
Academic registration: 12-15 credits to choose from the Spanish Studies Program offer and/or regular courses at the University of Alcalá
Credits issued by the University of Alcalá
Cultural activities in all courses, such as visits to museums, corporate visits, governmental institutions, etc, which provide students with a challenging learning environment
University of Alcalá student ID
We offer medical, travel and third party damages insurance to requesting students
Orientation sessions
Guided tour of Alcalá
Guided tour of Madrid
Transportation to and from the airport
University services: computer room, libraries, sport complex and all university services
On site coordinator which supervises students´ stay and helps them with any issues which may arise during the program
24h emergency on-call service
Homestay with families (including three meals/day and laundry service once a week). Our families have much experience working with students and helping them integrate into Spanish culture
Spanish tutor who meets individually with students to help them with language acquisition and questions
Volunteering opportunities for interested students throughout the semester
COURSES:
Spanish courses for all levels: from beginners to near-native fluency
Courses in the areas of international relations, history, culture and civilization, business, literature, and courses for bilingual students
The Spanish Studies Program is accredited by the University of Alcalá, and evaluated externally every semester by ICE (Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación) as well as by internal evaluations
This year’s theme of the ACTFL National Video Podcast Contest is “Why I am a 21st Century Learner.” Open to currently enrolled world language students in grades K-16. All entries will be displayed for the world to see. Selected winners can win up to $500 and will be featured on ACTFL’s website and in the February issue of “The Language Educator.” The deadline is Dec. 20. Find out more and check out last year’s winners.
Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the 2010 Nobel prize in Literature. Vargas Llosa is part of the so-called “Latin American Boom,” the literary movement in the 1960’s that propelled Latin American narrative, especially the novel, to the highest echelons of World Literature.
The “Boom,” as it is sometimes called, introduced such literary modes as “magic realism,” popularized by Gabriel García Márquez -who won the Nobel in 1967- and politically engaged works such as Vargas Llosa. While García Márquez’s narrative is straightforward -at least on a superficial reading- Vargas Llosa’s is structurally much more complex; he frequently eschews linear plots and univocal narratives for complex timeframes and plurivocal exploration of a politically engaged theme, such as power structures and poverty.
Below is the announcement in Stockholm of the Nobel award, in Swedish, English and Spanish.
Vargas Llosa interviewed about his work. In Spanish.
In 2007, he addressed the Letras Libres Forum held in Monterrey, Mexico, as one of the 8 intellectual “heavy weights” of the worlds. His lecture was on the links between literature and reality. In Spanish, with English subtitles.
The Real Academia Española wants to put the better part of Don Quixote up on YouTube. To that end, it is enlisting the help of volunteers from around the world to sign up at their site to read pre-selected chunks and post them on the video site. To find out more about it, read this article from the BBC.
** Bite-size Don Quixote on YouTube **
The Royal Spanish Academy invites the public to read a section from the 17th Century novel Don Quixote – and upload it to YouTube.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/world-europe-11449510 >
received this email from Vista Higher Learning, a foreign language book publisher. If you are creative and have a talent for making videos, here is an opportunity to make some $$$.
Language Learning for Life
It’s that time of year again! Last year language students from colleges and universities around the country submitted fun and meaningful videos to Vista Higher Learning’s Language Learning for Life video contest.
Six lucky students won $500 to put toward things like study abroad opportunities and textbooks. Students, instructors, and the Vista team enjoyed the contest so much that we are holding it again this year! We will once again ask your students to make a video that demonstrates how they think language study will benefit their local community or the wider global community.
Lauren Johnson, an International Studies major now in ACU’s Study Abroad program, started writing a blog, Tráigame Uruguay, about her experiences in Montevideo. The Costa Mesa, CA, newspaper wrote an article about how Lauren’s blog is helping her former teacher, Christine Navakovich, Spanish teacher at Mariners Christian School, teach second-graders Spanish and learn about Latin American culture. The American Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) with nearly 7,000+ members nation-wide, highlighted the story in this month’s brief.
So,…
Over seven thousand foreign language educators across the United States have seen how an ACU student is using mobile technology while at ACU’s Montevideo program to connect Montevideo with her home town of Costa Mesa, CA.