Metea celebrated the annual World Language/ESL Week from Mon. March 20 to Fri. March 24. The world language and ESL departments planned various activities for students, such as a trivia competition, special lunch menus, hidden flags around the school, and a multilingual playlist.

World Language Week recognizes the wide variety of languages spoken around the world and emphasizes the significance of learning a foreign language. The tradition was started by Alpha Mu Gamma in 1957 as a way of praising students for their success in foreign language studies. 

According to Spanish teacher Gaby Serrano, World Language Week honors the language diversity at Metea.

“[World Language Week] is a celebration of different cultures,” Serrano said. “In addition, it highlights the diversity [at Metea] and also recognizes the many languages, including ESL students, who enroll with a lot of languages, some we do not even teach.” 

ASL, Chinese, French, German, and Spanish courses are all open to students at Metea. Each language offered also has clubs or honors societies to participate in. These extra-curricular activities are voluntary and do not impact the classes themselves. According to Senior Jadyn Enas, co-president of ASL Club, World Language Week brings attention to the many foreign language opportunities here at Metea.

“I signed the pledge that was played on Monday, for ASL day,” Enas said. “The goal was to spread awareness that these are languages that are taught here at Metea, and students can take them. I know when I enrolled for my freshman year, I had no idea that I could take an ASL course.”

While many of the activities are in the language clubs, there is a plan to expand World Language Week in the future.

“In the past, we have done movie nights as well as a dance. We hope to bring some of the stuff that we used to do back and incorporate more languages. 

“World Language Week helps people learn about other cultures,” Enas said. “It is important to recognize and celebrate that there is more than just this little bubble that we live in,” Enas said. There is a whole world out there that celebrates different things.