This semester at UGA there is a new initiative in an effort to promote a closer look at an international experience. With the support of Tom Dyer, Vice President for Instruction and Associate Provost, the  International Communities at Mary Lyndon House began operating in August 2000. One floor of this residence hall has been made available to students to "live" the language they study.  Two languages are initially targeted in this pilot project: Spanish and French. Currently there are 19 students in the Spanish wing and 15 in the French.

Eric Williams (Spanish) and Michael Lindsey (French) are the two graduate students currently serving as Graduate Resident Coordinators  living and interacting with the undergraduate students who are participating this year. Eric and Michael told me that their responsibilities are to plan activities that complement what they learn in the classroom. Even thought the language proficiency is not the same among every resident, sstudents are encouraged to communicate with each other in the target language and this is a requirement when speaking to their respective Graduate Resident Coordinator or to the Faculty Coordinators Diana Ranson (Spanish) and Cathy Jones (French).

Some of the events that will take place this year are dinners, films series, music evenings, invited speakers etc.

On a Sunday evening in early October, the Spanish wing had its first dinner of the year. A Puerto Rican menu was graciously prepared by Amárilis Torres Jordan (a Spanish instructor in the department); it included: Arroz con Gandules, Tostones, Bacalaitos, Pollo Guisado and Flan for dessert.

On October 15, a pot luck dinner was held in the dinning area of the Mary Lyndon house. French dinners included crêpes, and salade niçoise, rataouille, danube, and riz au lait. Several French professors joined the student residents. A similar dinner for the Spanish wing occurred the following Sunday.  The menu included enchiladas, Spanish rice, and tortilla española.


For more information go to:
www.rom.uga.edu/langcomm