Happy Discover
Languages Month!
The calendar page tells us it is February—
and that means it is time to celebrate and advocate!
Language teachers around the country are focusing on language
advocacy during Discover Languages Month. Join us as we take this
opportunity to promote language programs with our students, our
administrators, and our communities.
It’s not hard—here’s how:
Celebrate!
Go to the Discover Languages online store at www.DiscoverLanguages.
org and order logo products to use for language promotion. There
are new posters, brochures, and wristbands—to name only a few items.
In purchasing products, you are helping the national language advocacy
campaign because all proceeds go to support the effort.
Educate!
Help your students discover language teaching. Think about those
language teachers who inspired you to enter this career and tap
a student on the shoulder this month to discuss the prospect of
becoming a language teacher. Find materials online for support at
www.DiscoverLanguages.org. You can also download a free bookmark to use to bring the message to your students. Play one of the
new public service announcements (PSAs) available on the Discover
Languages website for your classes.
Stage a Pop Quiz
in Your Area
The Discover Languages website
at www.DiscoverLanguages.org
features an online tutorial for setting
up your own Language Ambush
pop quiz in your community.
Check it out and hit the streets!
Communicate!
Get other ideas for events and add your own to the Discover Languages
Bulletin Board. Post your own activity and become eligible for free registration for the 2007 ACTFL Convention or a free one-year membership
in ACTFL.
The Language Educator
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February 2007
21
What One Educator and
Her Class Are Doing to
Promote Languages
at a National Level
Learning a foreign language can be great fun and often leads to
a world of opportunity. Numerous studies show that students
who study foreign languages perform better on standardized
math, reading and writing tests. Furthermore, failure to study a
foreign language can hurt a student’s chances of being accepted
at a competitive college. The importance of learning other languages extends beyond high school. College students and adults
can pick up languages to make international travel enjoyable
and to improve their job prospects. In today’s global economy,
the ability to speak Spanish, French, German or Japanese enhances a worker’s resume. Dozens of occupations from business
and government service to health care and law enforcement,
favor applicants with fluency in languages other than English.
—President George W. Bush (2000)
T
he above words were written to one of Jean Despoteris’s middle school students in response to a class
project that she has been doing for the past 23 years in Glastonbury, Connecticut. In her own words,
Jean describes this innovative student project that has spanned two decades and reached out to dozens
of important leaders and celebrities to get them to express their views on language learning.
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The Language Educator
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February 2007
Letters to Famous Americans
Campaign
By Jean Despoteris, Smith Middle
School, Glastonbury, Connecticut
W
hile attending the COLT (Connecticut
Council of Language Teachers) Convention in 1983, I received a packet of ideas and
information for promoting the importance of
studying foreign languages. That same year, my
junior high school Spanish students wrote letters
to famous people they admired. They mentioned
in their letters that they began studying a foreign
language in elementary school and asked the
person they wrote to if they had ever studied a
foreign language and if it had helped them in
their careers.
The Language Educator
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February 2007
23
Letters to Famous Americans Campaign
M
y students wrote letters to people in
government, politicians, actors, authors,
astronauts, movie celebrities, musicians, and
sports players.
Some of the celebrities who responded
were Katherine Hepburn, former Presidents Bill
Clinton and George Bush, President George W.
Bush (in Spanish and English), actors Jack
Lemmon and David Morse, Supreme Court
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, former New York
mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright, Regis Philbin, and
many more.
This year during International Education
Week (November 11–18, 2006), I had the idea
to recycle this project again after not doing
it for five years. I had hoped that I would get
responses back in time for Discover Languages
Month in February.
My middle school students wrote letters to
celebrities of their choice. I found their enthusiasm was overwhelming. Although they were
required to write one letter, many wrote two or
more. Some of my students sent e-mails. The
responses were quicker and they received some
interesting e-mails back.
One woman, who was not the person for
whom the e-mail was intended, but had the
same name, answered a student’s e-mail. The
woman stated that she was a nurse and used
her knowledge of Spanish in her career almost
every day. She also said that her college-aged
children studied Spanish and found it useful
in everyday life, communicating with Spanishspeaking friends and working in a culturally
diverse community. I was impressed that this
woman took the time out of her busy schedule
to answer a middle school student about the
importance of studying a foreign language for
a class project.
In December, the response letters started
to arrive at our school. So far, Regis Philbin,
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The Language Educator
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February 2007
Letters to Famous Americans Campaign
Jay Leno, singer John McCutcheon, swimmer Amanda Beard, basketball star Vince
Carter, and actor Channing Tatum have
responded. The students are delighted when
they receive the letters and I am ecstatic to
read the responses in class and have famous
celebrities confirm the importance of learning a foreign language.
When I began this project 23 years ago,
I had students who would question “Why
do we have to study Spanish? I’m never
going to Spain.” Now, in our global society
and economy, the students are increasingly
more aware of why they are studying Spanish and other foreign languages and of their
importance in today’s world. The students
are now asking me if they should choose
Latin, Chinese, or Greek in high school, in
addition to continuing with the Spanish
language. We’ve come a long way!
Look for these
Letters from Famous
Americans in the
Celebrity Corner
on the Discover
Languages Website!
ACTFL will add these statements of
support for language learning from
the prominent people mentioned in
this article to the “Celebrity Corner”
section of the Discover Languages
website. As part of our national effort
to promote languages, we need to
encourage those in leadership and other
prominent positions to “Speak Up for
Language Education.” Watch for more
information about this effort at
www.DiscoverLanguages.org!
The Language Educator
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February 2007
25