NATIONAL
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
WEEK

In the United States, National Foreign Language Week is celebrated in the first weeks of March annually, with a theme selected by Alpha Mu Gamma, the national collegiate foreign language honor society. This page also includes ideas from FLAND's former Foreign Language Week Coordinator, Sandy Meidinger, Linton Public Schools.

The 2008 dates are March 3-9, 2008
The National FL Theme is: "You've Got the World on a String with Foreign Languages."

FLAND Foreign Language Week 2008 Essay Contest

2008 Essay theme:
"You’ve Got the World on a String with Foreign Languages"

Contest Rules:

**The essay is to be written in English.

** It must be typed, double-spaced and no more than 300 words in length.

**The student should set the margins and font to fit the essay onto one page.

**Each student should submit 3 copies of the essay attached to one cover page that contains the student’s name, grade, school, and language teacher’s full name. This information should not be on the essay itself.

**The essays will be judged using the following criteria: use of theme, development of ideas, originality, organization, word choice and vocabulary, and grammar and mechanics.

**Students will be divided into two divisions according to their grades.

Division I: 9^th and 10^th graders. Division II: 11^th and 12^th graders.

**Three cash prizes will be awarded in each division:

1^st place -- $25 2^nd - $15 3^rd - $10

**Each teacher may submit five essays in each division.

**Teachers must be current members of FLAND. You can pay your dues for 2007-08 school year at the fall conference in Minot or you can send a $20 check to the FLAND treasurer: Julie Rohlk, Glenburn High School, P.O. Box 548, Glenburn, ND 58740.

**Essays need to be submitted by February 1^st to Sandy Meidinger, Box 970, Linton High School, Linton, ND 58552.

Sandra.Meidinger@sendit.nodak.edu

FL WEEK FIVE-STEP PLAN
FOR DEPARTMENTS LONG ON CREATIVITY
AND SHORT ON FUNDING

Here is the FLAND FIVE-STEP PLAN for a planning a successful and inexpensive foreign language week celebration based around the commands to ORGANIZE, ADVERTIZE, INVOLVE, CELEBRATE and SHARE! Ideas and suggestions were submitted by Sandy Meidinger, FLAND (Foreign Language Association of North Dakota) Foreign Language Week Coordinator, Linton High School, Box 237, Linton ND 58552. Editing and formatting were provided by Kate Stevenson, FLAND webmaster.

Step One: Organize!

Things to do at least four to six weeks in advance:
- Contact speakers.
- Line up reporters and PR people to help cover the events when they occur.
- Order candy for sale and for prizes. (Try candy from Trans-European Student Programs in Bismarck-Mandan! Good prices and good selection!)
- Reserve rooms for special events.
- Contact elementary school teachers for special joint projects.
- Plan special menus, special cooking days and reserve home ec rooms if possible.
- Share all your plans with departmental colleagues.
Things to do at least two to three weeks in advance:
- Get students started on poster, play writing, cooking or artwork contests. -- Ask Janet Thielmann of Jamestown High School about her yearly Gingerbread House contest!
- Write news releases.
- Give interviews on local radio shows and talk radio stations into making public service announcements out of excerpts of the interviews.
- Make time line for media blitz.
Involve students as much as possible at all planning stages. Let them show how special their talents are and how much they are learning.

Step Two: Advertise!

The most inexpensive option is to have students make posters or for computer literate teachers to make posters with a graphics program. Large professional-quality posters for Foreign Language Week with the 1999 theme are available through the address for Alpha Mu Gamma above or through:
ICTFL(Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
Box 56333
Springfield IL 62705
The prices for posters from both sources is the same: $5 each. For both sources, shipping and handling for up to 5 posters is an additional $5. A personal check should be included as payment with each order.

Step Three: Involve your school and community!

Have students make posters to hang in hallways.
Highlight the theme by putting footsteps in the hallways. The Linton High sports teams put contact paper over construction paper to attach the footsteps to the floor. If the school does not allow footsteps on the floor, try the walls. On the footsteps, write language and country facts, clues to a riddle, steps to success or some other idea -- and have the steps lead to the foreign language classroom(s), of course!
Invite exchange students or people from your community with international experiences to speak in your classes.
Translate the lunch menu into other languages and post them where students will read them while waiting for lunch. Have language students announce the lunch menus on the radio or over the loudspeaker.
Have a daily trivia question with prizes for correct answers.
Take your students to elementary classes to teach a short lesson, read a story, teach a song or perform a play.
Use school publications to promote foreign language study.
Ask the local paper to feature foreign language week activities.

Step Four: Celebrate!

Teach your classes a dance or new songs.
Have a food day.
Hold poster, poetry or artwork contests.
Sell international candy.
Have a language club fun night or cinema night.
Emphasize in all the activities the need for foreign language study and the benefits to individual students.

Step Five: Share!

Not only is it energizing to get ideas from other teachers and to share your successes with others, but it helps us all in our mission to promote language study in this country. Please submit successful ideas to the membership of the Foreign Language Association of North Dakota. Your email note will go to all the language teachers in North Dakota who have subscribed to the FLANDlist.

NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE WEEK