During the first week in March since 1957, the Alpha Mu Gamma Honor Society at Los Angeles City College celebrates the importance of studying foreign languages. Presidents of the United States, starting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, have endorsed this  national celebration to help better the foundation of  learning foreign languages.

The official theme for this year’s National Foreign Language Week is “Foreign Languages: They Nourish the Brain!”

This year the celebration will take place from March 4 through March 1o.

In previous years at HHS, there have been t-shirt contests to see which students can be the most creative with incorporating the year’s theme into a t-shirt design or the student creates their own slogan to put on a t-shirt to support the celebration of foreign languages.

Instead of t-shirts this year, HHS will be hosting a NFLW poster contest.

The rules are as follows:

All entries must contain a slogan and images that:
• Promote the study of any/all foreign language and/or cultures
• Do not show preference to any one language/culture
• Have only original content (images and slogan)
• Do not contain any offensive or inappropriate language/images
• Use correct spelling and grammar
• Posters should be created on an 8×11 sheet of paper
• They may be done by hand or electronically; no pencil
• Teachers will select top entries and students will vote for winners

On March 8, students will be voting within their foreign language class for who should be the first and second place winners.

First place winners will receive a $10 gift card and an official NFLW t-shirt. Second place winners will also receive an official NFLW t-shirt.

All entries are due by March 7. 

Also this week,  there will be miniature flags hidden all around the school. If a student finds a flag and can identify which country it is from, he or she can go to a foreign language teacher to collect his or her prize.

During third period there will be a pair of students saying the announcements in a different language and then repeating them in English.

Last but not least, in all the Foreign Language department classrooms, students will be guessing “Where’s Waldo?” with a hint to where he might be. Only correct answers will be taken and put into a drawing for a prize. Every day this week, “Where’s Waldo?” will also be on the front page of the website. Even if a student is not in a foreign language class, he or she can still play by turning in their answer to Julie Swartzloff, head of the Foreign Language department. Come back every day to see where Waldo might be next.

Photos courtesy of MCT Campus and Julie Swartzloff.