La comida latina

As part of our current Food & Restaurant unit, students recently completed a small research project to learn about authentic Latin American foods.  Students presented foods from Cuba to Argentina and everywhere in between.  Many students chose to prepare a sample of the dish for their classmates to try.  It was a great way for students to be exposed to authentic foods from a wide variety of countries!  Here are some of the foods we tried:

Tostones, from Puerto Rico and the Domincan Republic, are fried plantains that are usually served with a dipping sauce.

Agua de sandía is a refreshing watermelon drink found in many countries in Central America.  These students even served the drink in an authentic way in small plastic bags with straws! 

 As you can see, many students enjoyed the Agua de sandía!

In two different sections of Spanish, we tried a dessert that is very common in many Latin American countries, flan.  Flan is an egg based custard with a light caramel sauce on top.

Pastel de tres leches is another very popular dessert that two groups of students shared with their classes.  This cake is made with three different kinds of milk (regular, evaporated, and sweetened condensed) which is where it gets the name tres leches.  

Another pair of students shared alfajores with their class.  Alfajores are delicious sandwich cookies from Argentina that are filled with dulce de leche, a rich caramel sauce.

 These tasty berlines are a typical Chilean snack and they were served with cola de mono a chilled, sweet coffee flavored drink.  

¡Qué rico!

YUM!

National Foreign Language Week

Hola & Bonjour!

This week is National Foreign Language Week!  To celebrate we've labeled the whole school with signs in French & Spanish, and there will be Mexican and French themed lunches served in the cafeteria this week!  On Friday Spanish students will wear beads and the colors of the Mexican flag - red, white, and green - to show their language learning pride!

Check out this quick video on the importance of learning a second (or third!) language.


Here are some interesting research based facts about language learning: 

• Learning another language improves your understanding of English structure and vocabulary! 
• Students who study a foreign language have increased scores on standardized tests.
• Foreign language learners have better listening skills and sharper memories than their monolingual peers.
• Several studies indicate that individuals who learn a second language are more creative and better at solving complex problems than those who do not.
• Foreign language learners are more tolerant of the differences among people.
• Students of foreign languages may even have better career opportunities!

*Source - "The Benefits of Second Language Study" Regarding World Language Education

NEA Research, December 2007 http://www.ncssfl.org/papers/BenefitsSecondLanguageStudyNEA.pdf

Thanks for your continued support of your student studying a foreign language!