Willkommen! Bienvenue! Bienvenidos!

As students walked into Duke 211 last Wednesday night, they were greeted with the warmth of a “welcome” in German, French, and Spanish, as opposed to the English typically spoken during the day as part of the classroom’s various history and math classes.

On Oct. 26, the Guilford College Department of Foreign Languages held its open house for students interested in majoring or minoring in one of its subjects.

The event featured a soundtrack composed of music from around the world, as well as multicultural food and drinks. At the start, the attendees played a couple of internationally-themed games to get to know each other. Kaled Atchabao, a junior, shared his excitement about meeting new people. “I want to see other people’s experiences and compare it to mine at Guilford.” The evening proceeded with presentations from students majoring and minoring in one or more of the four languages offered at Guilford. The students shared their experiences with the department, as well as stories from their semesters abroad, and their plans for the future.

“I’ve had extremely positive interactions with the language department,” said junior Danika Gottbrecht who is majoring in French and European studies and minoring in German. “I’ve become very, very close with my teachers. It has affected me in a positive way.” The Department of Foreign Languages offers French, German and Spanish as both majors and minors, and Japanese as a minor. “(Learning a language) is personally transformational in the way that almost nothing else you can do in college is,” said Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages Karen Spira, who teaches Spanish.

“You really take on a different identity, and you’re able to interact with a different part of the world through that identity.”

Spira, who organized the open house, also pointed out a more practical reason to take a language at Guilford.

“It will set you apart when you enter the workforce,” said Spira.

“I think that Guilford students are going to be eligible for a select subset of jobs if they gain proficiency in a language. (These) will be rewarding to them and challenging and also can pay higher than other jobs.”

Hiroko Hirakawa, the Japanese professor, also made an appearance. Hirakawa, who is on sabbatical this semester, will be offering an accelerated Japanese introduction in the Spring. Students will take both Japanese 101 and 102 in the same semester.

“It most likely will be (difficult,) but I’m more excited to take the class than anything,” said Early College at Guilford junior Ayah Elhusein, who is planning on taking the Japanese fast-track course next semester.

Registration begins on Friday, Nov. 4. Introductory courses will be offered in Spanish and Japanese, and second level courses will be offered in German and French as well.

Associate Professor of Foreign Languages Maria Bobroff said she believes that foreign language classes provide a unique perspective on the world that Guilford students could find useful.

“The foreign languages department offers students insight into other cultures, other people, and other ways of thinking. We facilitate cross-cultural communication with other people.”