Concordia Language Villages

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Concordia Language Villages (CLV), previously the International Language Villages, is a world-language and culture education program whose mission is to prepare young people for responsible citizenship in our global community. Since beginning in 1961, it has grown to offer summer camp and school-year weekend programs in 15 modern languages, which are taught through a language and cultural immersion philosophy. The Villages annually serves over 13,000 young people, aged 7-18,[1] from every state of the US, as well as Canada and 31 other countries,[2] and are sponsored by Concordia College of Moorhead, MN, a private four-year liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

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[edit] Mission

CLV's mission is to "prepare young people for responsible citizenship in our global community."[3]

Each village focuses on immersion in both the language and the culture(s) of its target. Counselors speak the target language from waking up to going to sleep, with the help of many communicative techniques designed to reduce frustration on the part of the villagers; villagers are encouraged to use as much of the target language as they can produce. By the end of the summer, even villagers with no previous encounters with the language remark on how much they are able to understand.

CLV also aims to develop cultural awareness. Everything from the meals to the crafts to the games is tailored to the target culture(s). Village programs are designed to cast light on the cultures in question, as well as the diversity of cultures around the world, and can take on inter-village meaning in everything from "World Cup" soccer matches between nearby villages to simulating the EU deliberating on an issue. Additionally, at CLV villagers are able to live with, play with, work with, and get to know foreign native speakers. CLV also sponsors a "International Day" twice yearly; it is free and open to the public and aims to foster further global awareness.

Strong environmental goals encompass all aspects of the program, from recycling, waste reduction, water management, encouragement for campers to bring biodegradable toiletries, alternative energy sources like solar and geothermal power are implemented on the permanent site. The new Waldsee "Biohaus," the first certified passive house in North America,[4] is a testament to these goals. The villages also have a relatively high vegetarian and vegan ratio, to which they cater.

[edit] Villages

There are six architecturally and culturally authentic village sites (Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Russian, and Spanish) located near Bemidji, Minnesota on Turtle River Lake. There are also culturally authentic villages at several other sites throughout Minnesota, as well as Savannah, GA, Switzerland, and China.

The road connecting the permanent villages at Turtle River Lake to the county road was purposefully constructed to be winding, to simulate the long trip to the target cultures represented at the villages. The original plans for these villages included a train to link all of the villages. Although this idea was scrapped, aspects of it still remain in several buildings. The German village's four-story administration building resembles a German train station and is called the Bahnhof ("train station"). The dining hall at Salolampi, the Finnish language village, is modeled after a famous Finnish train station. Additionally, the Turtle River Lake site has a World Inc. Peace Site at its heart, near the Norwegian village, and the Bemidji and Turtle River Lake sites have European road signs in kilometers per hour (imported from Germany, not replications).

Several immigrant buildings have been moved to the permanent sites to show villagers what life was like for early European immigrants. The immigrant cabins at the Norwegian village are original to the site. The German "Haus Sonnenaufgang" was first moved from New Ulm, Minnesota to sit next to the Norwegian ones, but was moved sometime in the early 1990s to the German campsite near Bemidji, Minnesota.

CLV consists of 15 villages:

Each village is named "Lake of the Woods" in its language, with the exception of the English villages Hometown, USA and Hometown, Europe, and the Arabic village al-Wāḥa ("the oasis").

[edit] Village culture

Villagers use CLV issued passports to manage their camp bank account and familiarize them with the use of a passport. Villagers also go through customs upon arrival.

Each language village site has numerous traditions, many of which are related to meals and songs. Meal presentations, in which each food and its name are presented in a short skit before each meal, are a language tool implemented by almost all programs. Many villages also put on a restaurant night for villagers to practice going out using their target language. Restaurants will often be fancy affairs that tend to represent international cuisine and languages that are not represented by the villages, such as Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, or Tibetan.

The cuisine in most villages reflect the ethnic cuisines of the target language. At Waldsee, this means that German regional food, Austrian, Swiss and common import foods like Turkish döner kebab are served. At Lac du Bois, foods of Africa and the Caribbean may be included.

Additionally, the fusion of American and foreign cultures has created a strange linguistic phenomenon sometimes referred to as Lac du Bois's "Franglais" (French+anglais) or Waldsee's "Denglish" (Deutsch+English). Examples would be Je need a couteau ("I need a knife") or What did you seh at the Kino? ("What did you see at the movie theatre?"). Site buildings are given names in the target language, and rarely does anyone refer to site buildings by their English names, even when speaking English. Additionally, some words have been invented by native-speaking staff members for concepts that are not native to the target cultures but daily words in camp life, such as "chipmunk," "poison ivy," and "mosquito repellent."

[edit] Programs

CLV offers a number of programs to serve its diverse audience, not all of which are offered in every language.

During the summer, CLV serves youth with villages in the United States, as well as a limited number of programs abroad for academic credit. Villagers can stay for 1 week, 2 weeks, or 4 week programs, and it is possible to earn high school or college credit for the time spent being immersed in the language. "Wilderness programs" during the summer offer additional opportunities to spend time in the outdoors of Minnesota for those who enjoy the environment, exploration, and camping. Many camps also offer other themed programs, such as French African or Swiss culture (which is a blend of the German, French, and Italian villages) or the Middle Ages in combination with theatre.[6]

Summer day camps are offered for younger learners who live in the area, and "family week" programs during the summer serve entire families, even those with young children.

Between September and June, CLV offers weeks and weekends of immersion for adults, for families, and for school classes. It also offers a 10-day 4-credit graduate level course for teachers in second languages and immersion.[7]

[edit] Summer youth

[edit] Activities

Simulations play a major role in giving villagers the opportunity to experience historic events and situations in international affairs that affect world peace. Examples have included world religions, children’s rights, and tolerance. Comfort with the language, open-mindedness, and awareness of world citizenship are core values taught at Concordia Language Villages. Villagers learn these important values daily, bit by bit, experience by experience.

A typical day at one of the Villages includes cultural and typical summer camp activities. Villagers might go canoeing, create art projects, play African drums, practice yoga, play ping-pong, or make a film -- all in the target language. Each moment is used to teach the language. Camp songs and daily skits are an integral part of the village experience, as are jokes, games, and weekend dances, to help surround campers with the language.

[edit] International Day

During each half of the summer, all the camps within driving distance come out to Waldsee German camp for a day-long festival of cultures called International Day, or I-Day. The camps bring out their wares and each has a booth of ethnic food to share, and each camp prepares a short skit to share. Each year has a theme. Additionally, campers in every village learn a choreographed dance to the year's "I-Day song" during the two weeks preceding I-Day. This is a song from a language not covered by the camps; everyone dances to together during the festival.

Year I-Day Theme I-Day Song
2007 Speak Your Peace "Festa" - Ivete Sangalo (Portuguese, in honor of the opening of Mar E Floresta)
2006 Creating a World Where Everyone Understands "Bye Bye" - Elli Kokkinou (Greek)
2005 Creating Cultures of Peace "Tunak Tunak Tun" - Daler Mehndi (Punjabi)
2004 - "Dragostea Din Tei" - O-Zone (Romanian)
2003 Learn. Reach. Grow. "Moi Et Toi" - Abdel Ali Slimani (Algerian Arabic)
2002 Our World: a Peace Puzzle  ? - ? (Italian, in honor of the opening of Lago del Bosco)
2001 A Language Odyssey "Alane" - Wes Madiko (Duala, a Bantu language)

[edit] High school summer credit abroad

Six high school credit abroad programs are offered in China, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Argentina, and Norway.

[edit] Year-round programs

Year-round programs are also available for adults, elderhostelers, families, teachers, and school groups. These programs meet over weekends and long weekends, and each school year has a theme for its weekend.[8]

[edit] International ties

[edit] Notable visits

Over the years, Concordia Language Villages has been visited by numerous dignitaries and supporters, including:

[edit] International patronage granted

His Majesty King Harald V of Norway has granted royal patronage to Skögfjorden, the Norwegian Language Village. Patronage is an affirmation from the Royal Family of Norway of the quality educational programming of Concordia Language Villages.

Mr. Johannes Rau, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany has also granted personal patronage to Waldsee, the German Language Village. This patronage is symbolic of the strong bonds between the people of Germany and Concordia Language Villages.


[edit] References

  1. ^ About the Villages. Concordia Language Villages. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
  2. ^ Robertson, Tom. "Concordia unveils Arabic language camp", Minnesota Public Radio, 2006-07-10. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  3. ^ About the Villages: Mission. Concordia Language Villages.
  4. ^ 1st North American Passive House Symposium to be held October 23 - 24, 2006. Concordia Language Villages.
  5. ^ Concordia Language Villages Announces Portuguese as Next Offering. Concordia College.
  6. ^ Summer Youth Programs: Wilderness / Adventure. Concordia Language Villages.
  7. ^ Educators and School Groups: Teacher Seminars. Concordia Language Villages.
  8. ^ Village Weekends. Concordia Language Villages.

[edit] External links

Languages