College applications were filed months ago and acceptance letters are on the way. April is a perfect month to have those last-minute discussions with seniors about preparing for college. Here are some possible ways to prepare your K-12 students. The post-secondary transition is often intimidating to students. Creating transition opportunities in your classroom lowers their anxiety and increases their chance of success.

Reach out to local schools
Contact an instructor at your local community college or university to share typical expectations and to describe the curriculum.
Plan a school visit
Arrange a school visit that focuses on the language learning opportunities offered in a nearby school. Even if several of your students have plans to attend elsewhere, this should prepare this to know what questions to ask and what resources to find at the school they do attend.
Career Discussions
Use a guideline like ACTFL’s Oral Proficiency in the Workplace handout to help students assess how much language instruction will be necessary to support the career of their choice.
Connect to Language Opportunities
Hopefully, students will find a myriad of opportunities to use language on campus. They won’t know where to look until you give them directions. Suggest chat groups or round tables, language partners, online language learning services, trips, study abroad programs, and other college language experiences.
The Language Lab
Language labs are back but in new ways. If your school has not used a language lab, you may want to find an example online to show your students.

Columbus High School teacher Liliana Velasco has long participated in the University of Nebraska Lincoln’s International Day competitions hosted by UNL’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. When UNL announced it would not be possible to host International Day this year, Velasco, saddened by the loss of a valuable opportunity for her students, decided to host her own Spanish Day at Columbus High School. I traveled to Columbus to participate in this event. Although many educators at the school participated in and assisted with making this a wonderful experience, they all credited Liliana Velasco with the drive and determination to motivate, organize, and inspire others. I am in awe of Ms. Velasco. Her talent for inspiring students to become passionate for acting, dancing, singing, and performing in another language and her willingness to step up to create a new venue for language celebration are phenomenal.

Nebraska celebrated the power of languages throughout World Language Week 2019. Student events provided an opportunity to practice and use German, Spanish, and French. The University of Nebraska Kearney offered a special luncheon as part of its film series UNK@TheWorld. Students who showed distinction in language learning were recognized as World Language Distinguished Scholars. The following materials are still available online as free downloads: Power of Languages posters, Power of Languages stickers, College, career, civic ready posters, Infographics.

To see the full biographies of World Language Distinguished Scholars, please visit the online slideshow.

College entrance requirements for world language vary by school and by program. Students are best advised to consider their ultimate goal and to choose their high school language enrollment accordingly. While the University of Nebraska Lincoln states that incoming students must have two years of world language, some programs at UNL require more.

Programs With an Admissions Requirement of Four Years

• Anthropology
• Biochemistry
• Computer Science
• Dance
• Economics
• Graphic Arts
• Meteorology
• News-Editorial
• Physics
• Political Science
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Theater Arts

The University of Nebraska Kearney’s annual spring film series, UNK@TheWorld, continues with a showing of Roma at the World Theater in downtown Kearney.

Dr. Michelle Warren, Professor of Spanish at UNK, shared that Roma is a monumental film in that it is the first Mexican film to win Best Foreign Language film and the first foreign language film to win for Best Director. Lead actress, Yalitza Aparicio, is the first indigenous woman to be nominated for Best Actress.

Roma will be shown April 5 and 6 at 7:30 pm. On April 7, the showing will be at 2:00 pm. Following the presentation of the film, there is a discussion led by Dr. Warren and Dr. Jonathan Dettman. Catering will be provided by Kearney’s Taquería Komal. All performances are free to anyone with a UNK identification and $5 to the general public.

When considering sharing with students, remember that Roma is rated R for violence, strong language, and limited sexual content. Although too strong for younger viewers, it can provide an excellent source for discussion on the topics of family, immigration, prejudice, social violence, and social policy. The movie is in Spanish with English subtitles.

The following jobs are posted at Teach in Nebraska, www.nebraskaeducationjobs.ne.gov: 

• French 9-12, Creighton Preparatory School, Omaha
• French 9-12, Roncalli Catholic High School, Omaha
• Spanish 10-11, Scottsbluff Public Schools, Scottsbluff
• Spanish 4-12, Central Valley Public Schools, Greeley
• Spanish 6-8, Scottsbluff Public Schools, Scottsbluff
• Spanish 7-12, Loup City Public Schools, Loup City
• Spanish 7-12, Morril Public Schools, Morrill
• Spanish 7-12, Winnebago Public Schools, Winnebago
• Spanish 9-12 Teledistance, Educational Service Unit 5, Beatrice
• Spanish 9-12, Creighton Preparatory School, Omaha
• Spanish 9-12, Falls City Public Schools, Falls City
• Spanish 9-12, Falls City Sacred Heart Catholic School, Falls City
• Spanish 9-12, Fillmore Central Public Schools, Geneva
• Spanish 9-12, Mercy High School, Omaha
• Spanish 9-12, Mount Michael Benedictine School, Elkhorn
• Spanish 9-12, North Platte Catholic Schools, North Platte
• Spanish 9-12, Schuyler Community Schools, Schuyler
• Spanish 9-12, South Central NE USD#5, Fairfield
• Spanish K-8, St. Thomas More School, Omaha
• Spanish/Art K-12, Nebraska Unified School District #1, Verdigre

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PBS Kids Edcamp
Unconference
NET-TV
Lincoln
March 23

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Middle East Forum
UNO College of Arts and Sciences, The Natan & Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies
March 28

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Dr. Alex Ortega: Population Health Challenges for Undocumented Latino Immigrants
UNL
April 2

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Latinx Immigrant Health Conversation Series: Trey Andrews
UNL
April 3

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Jose Antonio Vargas presents at Lincoln Commission on Human Rights Civil Rights Conference
Lincoln
April 16-17

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Spanish Heritage Language Workshop
COERLL Language Center
Texas
June 10-11

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Please email event information to
Stephanie Call at stephanie.call@nebraska.gov

The Power of Languages came to me when, as a high school student, I participated in a mission trip to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico sponsored by the Bladen/Blue Hill United Methodist Church. My first semester Spanish skills were applied to creating and memorizing a phrase of introduction and an explanation of why I was there. I still remember: “Estoy aquí para construir casas para Mabel.”  It worked. One day, I became separated from the work team as we were in downtown Nuevo Progreso. I used my phrase with a nearby vendor who took me to another vendor who led me through the maze of streets to where the workgroup had gathered. In our broken bilingual conversation, I made a human connection and learned more about the incredible impact the program had on the community. That day, even broken language had the power to unite, to inform, and to change perspectives for the better.

Stephanie Call, World Languages Specialist ♦ 402-471-4331 ♦ stephanie.call@nebraska.gov

Dr. Janet M. Eckerson, President-Elect
Past-President NATSP
Spanish Educator, Lincoln Public Schools
jeckers@lps.org

What was your motivation to become a language teacher?
When I studied abroad in college my eyes were opened to the power of language to connect you with the world.
Describe your classroom approach in five words or less.
Input, output, interaction and authentic resources
What power do you find in speaking another language?
The power of language to connect you, not just to other individuals in the target culture, but also to an entire word of ideas and experiences beyond your own.  It is a new opportunity to appreciate in a deep and life-changing way the richness of human culture.

79% of Nebraska secondary students are enrolled in a World Language course.

The Nebraska Department of Education annually surveys school districts to record course enrollment in secondary coursework that is worth high school credit. The chart reflects the courses listed in the survey and the enrollment numbers, which include grades 7-12.

Job Postings:

Nebraska employers need bilingual staff. The following occupations reflect job postings seeking bilingual employees in various languages in Nebraska in February 2019. Courtesy the NEworks website.

• Bakers
• Educators (all ages, all areas)
• Forest and Conversation Workers
• Healthcare (all areas)
• Interpreters and Translators
• Shoe Machine Operators
• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Telephone Operators
• Textile, Apparel, and Furnishings
• Training and Development Specialists

World Language Week celebrates the teaching and learning of world languages in the state of Nebraska. Nebraska has a long heritage of multilingualism from Swedish Oakland to German from Russia in Lincoln and Czech in Wilbur. Twentieth century immigration enriched Nebraska with more languages such as Spanish, Karen, Arabic, Bosnian, and Vietnamese. Nebraska also relies on languages to promote enterprise and build global relationships. Nebraska has long known that language has the power to make one college, career, and civic ready.

Visit the NDE World Language website for support materials such as poster PDFs, graphs, and social media memes. The website can be found at: https://www.education.ne.gov/worldlanguage/world-language-week/

Remember to share out any activities you do to celebrate the Power of Languages on our Facebook, Twitter, or for our newsletter.

The Nebraska Department of Education and the World Language Advisory Council are recognizing distinguished scholars during World Language Week, March 31-April 6. The theme of World Language Week is, “The Power of Languages To Make You College, Career, and Civic Ready.”

The World Language Distinguished Scholar Award recognizes Nebraska students for their leadership in language learning, commitment to language study, appreciation for cultural diversity, and communicative competence. Students were nominated by their World Language teachers and submitted a portfolio.

To see the 2019 World Language Distinguished Scholars, please visit the online slideshow.

The University of Nebraska Kearney’s Department of Modern Languages, Department of Sociology, Women, Gender & Ethnic Studies, International Studies, and College of Arts & Sciences sponsors its annual spring film series, UNK@TheWorld.

Dr. Michelle Warren, Professor of Spanish at UNK, initiated the film series in 2014. Following the presentation of a film, there is a discussion led by experts or someone with a personal connection to the topic.

The series was highlighted in a feature article of Dr. Warren and her work at UNK, including a research project to record the stories of immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries who relocated to Nebraska.

The University of Nebraska-Omaha Department of Foreign Languages offers French teachers an opportunity to learn new teaching strategies and styles while surrounded by French culture and history in Besançon, France. Classes will be taught at the Université de Franche-Comté by university professors and instructors from the Centre de Linguistique Appliquée (CLA).  Students can either stay on campus in an individual room (with private bathroom), at a hotel, a “foyer” in town or with a family. You can also purchase resto-u tickets for meals.  Besançon has a great variety of inexpensive French and ethnic restaurants.

For more information, contact Dr. Juliette Parnell at jparnell@unomaha.edu or 402-554-3029.