32nd Annual Language Fair

*Thank you all for a wonderful Fair this year. Please come back in January for updated information*

We would like to invite you and your students to participate in our 32nd annual statewide Language Fair on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Language Fair provides an opportunity for high school students from across the state studying French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish to demonstrate their acquisition of language and culture in various competitive events. The events are judged by the faculty and graduate students of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.

Enclosed you will find general information regarding the fair, registration forms and judging criteria. If you are interested in attending, we ask that you pre-register for all competitive events except poster (which will happen on-site) by February 21, 2008. We will assign time slots for all registrations received by February 29th and will send out notifications the following week. Along with your notification you will receive a schedule of events and parking instructions.

We have implemented some changes to this year's fair and want to remind you of some general rules:

• The fee for this year's event is $8 per student and $10 day of fair. Lunch is not included. Your students should bring spending money to buy lunch in the Union or at a local eating establishment.
• Students are only allowed to participate in two competitive events. Additionally, the HIGHEST LEVEL of any one student in a group event determines the level at which the ENTIRE GROUP must compete.
• We will no longer award ties for first and second place. Winners will be determined by judges based on salient characteristics that enhance the performance. Please see the revised judging form for more information.

General registration begins at 8:00 a.m. on March 13. You will need to check in your group at the general registration table and pick up campus maps and schedules for each participant. Then, if you need to make any changes to your pre-registered time slots, you will do so at the appropriate language table (e.g. go to the French table to change your time slot for French Drama). It is important to note that only teachers should register at the general registration table and only teachers should make changes to their pre-registered time slots. It is essential that students are accompanied by a teacher during the general registration process.

The opening ceremony will commence at 9:00 am and competitive events will begin promptly at 9:30 am. Throughout the day there will be conversation and display tables set up in the Union and mini-lessons in a variety of languages including Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Japanese, Russian, and Swahili, an African language. We will also have mini-lessons in international folk dancing. Teachers and graduating seniors are also invited to take the Language Placement exam in our Language Lab and the Van Brunt Visitors Center will be open for tours. The closing ceremony will be held from 2:00 pm - 2:45 p.m.

If you have any questions regarding the fair, please email Jamie Cruise. We look forward to seeing you!

Russell Ganim, Chair
Jamie Cruise , Language Fair Coordinator

Please check back in January 2009 for PDF's