PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Friday, May 13th, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center hosted Language Day after a two year hiatus.
Students and guests gathered on Soldier Field where more than 45 performances took the stage, food venders served a cultural variety of dishes, and students and faculty manned booths relating to their schoolhouse.
“I see Language Day as an opportunity for our faculty and the students to share what they have been working on in their classrooms, to share their language and the culture,” said Col. Jennifer Saraceno, DLIFLC assistant commandant and 517th Training Group commander. “It’s also an opportunity for them to see what the other schools are doing and what their fellow students are learning.”
The performances included songs, poems, dances, plays, and even a fashion show. Each performance was unique to the culture the students were studying and an opportunity to share that culture with their peers.
“I love it! It is such an amazing experience.” said Airman 1st Class Johnna Graham, Korean linguist student assigned to the 314th Training Squadron. “It’s so interesting to differentiate each culture. It’s something you can’t really experience outside of something like this.