World Affairs Council of Houston

Foreign Language Symposiums

The Council invites all Houston-area secondary schools and colleges with foreign language programs to participate in our annual foreign language lunches. The theme lunches are held in the specified language and include a speaker and student entertainment. The goal is to recognize students for learning a new language and to acknowledge teachers who nurture these interests.

Click here to learn more about the foreign language symposium
Click here to download the registration form

The luncheons are sponsored by the Council without cost to students and teachers.

Language Symposium

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Location: The Hess Building, 5430 Westheimer, Texas Ballroom

Russian
Arabic
German
Spanish
Chinese
French
Japanese
Italian

Tuesday, April 1st
Wednesday, April 2nd
Thursday, April 3rd
Monday, April 7th
Friday, April 11th
Tuesday, April 15th
Thursday, April 17th
Friday, April 25th
up to 20 students per teacher
up to 20 students per teacher
up to 4 students per teacher
up to 4 students per teacher
up to 15 students per teacher
up to 15 students per teacher
up to 4 students per teacher
up to 20 students per teacher

Volunteer as a Table Host
Your role as a table host is to converse with the students in the specified language, correcting and encouraging their speaking skills. Your participation also makes an important statement, telling students that you value their efforts at learning another language and that they deserve special recognition. Hosts should be present from 11:30 a.m. â€“ 1:00 p.m.

Attention seniors studying French - The French-American Scholarship Fund will award the Freshman Year Merit Scholarships of $1,000 each to two senior students attending the French Language Luncheon hosted by the World Affairs Council of Houston in April 2008.
Applications due by March 25th. Click here to dowload the application.

Reason to attend
These events are fun and educational, motivating students to gain proficiency in a new language. Students will benefit by:

Practicing public speaking
Learning about a current topic
Meeting peers from other schools
Conversing with business leaders
Gaining self-confidence in their language

Selecting students
We invite advanced non-native language students and teachers to represent their school. Students will be expected to speak in the specified language throughout the luncheon. The foreign language will be spoken through the duration of the event so we ask that teachers select students at level three or higher.

Teachers of German, Spanish, and French are invited to honor four students at the luncheon.

Teachers of Russian, Italian, and Arabic are invited to honor up to 20 students.
Teachers of Chinese and Japanese are invited to honor up to 15 students.

Additional activities
We encourage students to actively participate in the luncheon program. Students may sing, act, recite, or perform in the selected language. Contact the Council if your group or an individual is interested in presenting.

For more information email edursvp@wachouston.org.
To register: Email names of students, teacher, school, telephone, and email address.