For the past five months I have been studying Spanish, in anticipation of one day being able to converse with Spanish-speaking people during interactions as a Dean. I had not studied a foreign language since high school French, and hoped that I would be able to pick up Spanish quickly. Alas, language learning does not appear to be one of my strengths, so it\u2019s going to be years until I\u2019m fluent. Oh well.<\/p>\n
When I get to UW-Parkside I\u2019ll look into Spanish language offerings in the College of Arts and Humanities. I\u2019ll also speak with my fellow Dean about an interesting idea I came across a year or so ago. I can\u2019t remember where I saw it (hence, no link; sorry), but the essence was that we have entered an age where global citizens can speak to each other fairly well with the assistance of translation devices, so one does not need to be fluent in a foreign language for visits to other countries. The article went on to suggest that a curriculum could be developed that taught students to be world travellers who could quickly acquire linguistic and cultural basics once they hit the ground overseas. I\u2019ve got to do a search to try to find this article!<\/p>\n
There will probably always be a place for full scale college-level language instruction for students who need to be fluent in a foreign language in order to live and work for an extended period in a specific international location, but I wonder if a \u201cHow to be a World Traveller\u201d curriculum would be useful for the millions of students who will forget most of their language instruction after receiving caps and gowns? The curriculum could include engaging online language learning videos, such as the BBC\u2019s \u201cMi Vida Loca,\u201d<\/a> which \u201ctakes you on an intrigue mystery adventure to Madrid and beyond in 22 episodes, [in about] 10 min each, covering basic learning points for Spanish absolute beginners.\u201d I watched each episode as part of supplemental language lessons suggested by mi maestra de espa\u00f1ol fabulosa [my fabulous Spanish teacher], Lucy Cantellano Gallina.<\/p>\n Perhaps the \u201cHow to be a World Traveller\u201d curriculum could also include one-semester courses in targeted languages, with a goal of preparing students to be expert users of translation devices, such as smart phone apps. Not only would students be exposed to a variety of gadgets, they would be instructed in recognizing when queries produce flawed responses. For example, at the end of the first paragraph of this post I wanted to use a Spanish expression for \u201coh well.\u201d BabelXL<\/a> gave me \u201cbueno,\u201d and Google translate<\/a> suggested \u201coh bien.\u201d I know enough Spanish to recognize that \u201cbueno\u201d is \u201cgood,\u201d and while \u201cbien\u201d is most often used for \u201cwell,\u201d \u201coh\u201d is not Spanish!\u00a0 Yo escrib\u00ed a mi maestra de espa\u00f1ol para recibir una mejor traducci\u00f3n. (Put that in an online translator and see what you get!) She replied, \u201cHmm, it’s hard, because we don\u2019t use an expression at the end of something (conversation or situation) that did not work out the way we expected it to.\u201d That\u2019s the type of cultural context the \u201cHow to be a World Traveller\u201d curriculum should impart. Another example: the curriculum could inform students that \u201cSapo verde! Que te la pases bien!\u201d posted to my Facebook page is slang for \u201cHappy Birthday! Have a good one,\u201d instead of the \u201cgreen toad, may it pass you well\u201d translation delivered by BabelXL.<\/p>\n