February 15, 2005
Lexington language teachers promote "The Year of Languages"
237 Lexington lunch-goers were asked “What time is it?” in Spanish, French, German and Russian on Tuesday, February 15. The results indicate the average Lexingtonian needs more language skills to support the city’s position on the world stage. The surprise sidewalk "Pop Quiz" was conducted by more than a dozen of the more than 100 world language teachers and teaching assistants at the University of Kentucky.
The results were:
118 passers-by did not respond at all to the question.
104 responded, politely, in English. Sometimes with comprehension.
14 people responded accurately in the correct language.
The Lexington-Herald Leader and WLEX 18 reported on this language ambush.
Read the online Lexington Herald-Leader article →
Download article from the paper (PDF) →
View the WLEX 18 video coverage → (Windows Media Player: large file!)