During this year’s World Languages Concert, students and faculty took the stage to sing holiday songs in a multitude of languages, including: Latin, French, German, Spanish and Russian.
Since 2011, MSMS world languages instructors Lori Pierce and Margaret Henry have worked with their students to showcase this concert every December.
“Lori Pierce and I are both vocalists and pianists, and we strongly feel that teaching students songs in the languages they are studying is both pedagogically effective and just plain fun,” Henry said. “The concert is also a way to showcase the musical talents of our students.”
By integrating singing into the curriculum, students improve their pronunciation and memorization skills while learning more about the culture of the country that created the song.
“Study of culture is a vital component of studying a language,” Henry added. “Holidays vividly reflect culture, for they inspire customs, traditions, beliefs, folk wisdom, festive foods, seasonal artworks and forms of attire, dance, song, poetry and stories. It is fascinating and fun for students to examine other cultures and to compare and contrast them with their own. In the process, they can see that we are part of a big human family with many things in common, as well as some delightful differences to celebrate.”
To learn more about the world languages courses offered at MSMS, click here.