During the week of March 2nd, East Islip High School’s World Language Honors Society hosted the annual World Language Week: five days of language related activities that foreign language students participate in to display their appreciation, knowledge, and care for the languages that they have put so much effort into learning.
Several members of the WLHS used the week as an opportunity to gain community service hours while helping out and managing fun games for their peers. Each foreign language had a day dedicated to itself composed of several activities relating to the cultures of said languages.
American Sign Language
On Monday, March 2nd, the first day of World Language Week, students celebrated deaf culture during ASL day. Students were taught how to sign by the passionate individuals involved in ASL classes and they even had their own shirts!
“I think [ASL Day] was really good. I liked all the activities. They were well thought out,” Senior ASL student Robert Lerro, who was among those who helped out that day, said. “People could genuinely enjoy them.”
Students led several ASL related games that day: a game where one’s hearing was limited so they would have to decipher what someone was saying either through their signing or lip-reading, a deaf-themed Uno, and a sign language charades-like game called “Guesstures.”
“It was fun, I enjoyed watching them (the WLHS) sign songs,” said Ava DeMaria, another ASL student present that day.
Thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Bratta and her students, ASL day started World Language Week with a bang.
French
On Tuesday, March 3rd, the auxiliary gym was fueled with French spirit as students celebrated French day. Participating students rotated between several stations, including, coloring hot-air balloons, playing a French trivia Jeopardy game, and matching translated book titles to their specific languages such as Japanese, Indonesian, and even Aurebesh (a Star Wars language)!
Several passionate French-taking members of the WLHS made the most of this day.
Olivia Primiano, who wants to be a French teacher one day, said, “This year’s French day was very good considering the fact that it was Mrs. Iwanejko’s first year doing it. It was altogether pretty fun.”
French day would not have been as great as it was without the help of East Islip’s French students.
Italian
On Wednesday, March 4th, students showed their red, white, and green as they celebrated the culture of Italy. Italian students presented many games, such as the playing of a bingo-esque game called “Tombola,” a Kahoot! consisting of Italian related questions, and the decorating of Carnivale masks which WLHS members hung up on the wall to be displayed for the rest of the day.
“Italian day went very well,” Italian teacher Dr. Costa said. “It’s nice that other students not taking Italian were actually exposed to some Italian culture and some Italian vocabulary.”
Dr. Costa is excited for next year’s Italian day as he has something special planned. He and his students have made Italian day a special experience.
Spanish
On Thursday, March 5th, students gathered into the auditorium to watch Flamenco dancers from the Sol y Sombra dance company. The ensemble of women elegantly danced across the stage in vibrant red dresses as the audience watched them in awe.
“The Flamenco dancers performed a beautiful show with passion and cultural history,” EI Spanish teacher Mrs. Rapiejko said.
The dancers educated the audience on the several elements of Flamenco, one being small handheld instruments called castanets which supplemented the dancer’s moves with their rhythmic sounds. Watching the dancers was both an educational and enjoyable experience for language learners alike.
A departure from the traditional activities conducted on Spanish day in previous years, the show the flamenco dancers put on was a really cool and unique event that was a welcome addition to the week.
World Language Olympics
The final day of World Language Week was not dedicated to a single language–rather, it was a competition between students from all different foreign language classes participating in several games such as hula-hooping (which I somehow won!), musical chairs, scooter racing, and a game that involved slapping pizza boxes out of other competitor’s hands.
Several members of the World Language Honors Society managed the games, including ardent announcer Sienna Graber who said, ”I thought the Olympics were really fun when people participated in them.”
People like her ensured that the many fierce competitors had a blast.
The World Language Olympics made a grand debut, showcasing the passion foreign language students have for their languages.
Overall, this year’s World Language Week was a success. The event has been and will continue to be a hit every year.
