Spanish Honor Society students are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by hosting bilingual story nights for children at the downtown branch of the Abilene Public Library.
Students who are involved with these events will have the opportunity to use the language they are learning in a real situation. Students will get to test their language skills while providing a service for children in the Abilene area. The children will also be able to learn the importance of speaking multiple languages and receive encouragement to develop those languages.
All children in the Abilene area are welcomed to come and listen to ACU students tell stories in Spanish and in English. The students will help to provide thrilling entertainment for the children attending the events.
The story nights will provide the children with fun times, while immersing them into a culture that is, in many cases, different from their own. The story nights will be Thursday and Oct. 17.
The stories will be told by students that are involved with Sigma Delta Pi at ACU. Sigma Delta Pi is the largest collegiate National Honor Society for students of Spanish in the US. Madi Condron, senior ministry and vocation major from Georgetown, is the President of Sigma Delta Pi- Omega Gamma.
Dr. Beatriz Walker, professor of language and literature, is also the adviser for Sigma Delta Pi. ACU’s Omega Gamma chapter has won six national awards.
“We hope the children will understand the importance of speaking a second language.” Walker said, “Some of the children attending, as it has been our experience in the past, are of Hispanic origin, so they will see the language that mom and dad speak at home, in the mouths of these students that are reading to them.”
We hope this event will be encouraging to both the students and the children, Condron said, “We want them to welcome languages that are different from their own, and to embrace other cultures.”
The events will allow the students to gain confidence in themselves. This is a great learning experience that will allow students to apply their studies to a real life situation, and be a great opportunity to let ACU connect with the community around it.
