Individuals interested in sharing appreciation and education for multicultural communities and languages were brought together by the The Festival of Languages, which highlighted research, cultural and career presentations centered around language study made by graduate and undergraduate students, faculty and alumni.
The event was part of Research and Discovery week — and was held on Friday, Nov. 7 — which is a list of scheduled events that promote the research enterprise of the University of New Mexico and the opportunities available to researchers.
Presentations in the event focused on how, and where, multilingualism thrives throughout areas like healthcare, community service and education.
The festival had 28 total presentations that covered the power of language in artificial intelligence, French to African translations, how the Albuquerque Police Department bridges language barriers, government language, pronouns in different languages, Pueblo Hand Talk, American Sign Language, Spanish, Chinese and other languages.
Some lab sessions were also based around activities, allowing attendees to learn by participating in things like Japanese tea ceremonies and origami.
Molly Arévalo, the associate director of the UNM Language Learning Center, said this was the first year that the University held the event. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, there used to be a Language EXPO, but the EXPO was geared towards informing high school students of different languages available to study at UNM, she said. Arévalo said the Language Learning Center is interested in restarting something reminiscent of those programs.
Arévalo said a big part of her job is encouraging students to take language courses, because she is a lover of language herself.
“I see so many values in studying languages, and so I really wish that a lot of students would consider not just taking that one required course but, the more courses you take, the more fluent you become, the more proficient you become, and the more communicative skills that you have to connect with other people,” Arévalo said.
Arévalo said that learning another language “expands your perspective of the world and makes you a more global citizen.”
Lexis Lovato is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @lovatolexis
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