The Year of Languages ::
December 14, 2005
French Ambassador Meets With Kentucky Students
As part of the Kentucky World Affairs Council's "Brown-Forman Global Issues Forum Series", Jean-David Levitte, Ambassador of France to the United States, spoke at the Kentucky Center for the Arts on December 12th. His speech titled "French-US Relations: A view from across the Atlantic" was attended by area middle and high school students, as well as students from Owensboro and Morehead. (Pictured at the right are students from Louisville's Meyzeek Middle School.)
"Your country is the United States, your future is the world!" -- Jean-David Levitte
September 25, 2005
KWLA Language Teachers "Ambush" Louisville
164 Louisville lunch-goers were asked “What time is it?” in Spanish, French, German, Latin and Arabic on Friday afternoon. The results indicate the average Louisvillian 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 400 world language teachers attending the annual KWLA Fall Conference held last weekend at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Louisville. The results were: 97 passers-by did not respond at all to the question. 58 responded, politely, in English. Sometimes with comprehension. 9 people responded accurately in the correct language.
The Courier-Journal reported on the event in its Saturday, September 24, edition: Read entire article
August 26, 2005
The Year of Languages on NASDAQ and CBS
As part of 2005: The Year of Languages national celebration, ACTFL will open the NASDAQ stock market, conduct a language "pop quiz" in Times Square and appear on the CBS Early Show. The Year of Languages "Pop Quiz" will be covered by the CBS Early Show on Monday, August 29, at 8:03 a.m. and 8:33 a.m. This is a GREAT public relations event for the foreign language profession and the Year of Languages! I hope you will be able to tune in and watch! Learn more
March 03, 2005
Kentucky House Passes YOL Resolution
The House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky adopted House Resolution 175 on Tuesday, March 1st in honor and recognition of 2005 as "The Year of Languages."
Read the entire resolution →
(HINT: click on the HR 175 link to read entire resolution)
February 16, 2005
Spreading the love for "The Year of Languages"
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!)
January 28, 2005
Governor Proclaims "The Year of Languages"
Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher has officially proclaimed proclaimed 2005 as "The Year of Languages". Fletcher, "urges all citizens to become familiar with the services and benefits offered by education programs in our Commonwealth, and to support and participate in these programs so as to gain proficiency not only in English, but in other languages as well." Download Entire Proclamation (PDF) →