For release: March 10, 2011
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901/678-2843

More than 750 area high school students will demonstrate their knowledge of foreign languages and cultures at the 20^th annual Language Fair, which will be held Saturday, April 2, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the University of Memphis campus.

In addition to celebrating the fair’s 20^th year, the 2011 event will include several firsts, including the fair’s taking place at the new University Center, offering competitive events for learners of Chinese, and offering a writing event for heritage speakers of Spanish.

Events will be held for students of Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin, and Spanish. Students will compete in a variety of events, including poetry recitation, costumes, folk dance, drama, music, research projects, crafts, and a culture bowl. Winners for these events – as well as for poetry writing, essays, and video submissions – will be recognized at an awards ceremony at the end of the fair.

A Teacher of the Year award will also be presented to an outstanding area educator who has shown excellence in foreign language teaching.

The fair is sponsored by the University’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. More information is available from Errol O’Neill by email at flfair@memphis.edu, online at http://memphis.edu/fl/fair, or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/FLFair.