Friday, April 01, 2005
Area high schools preparing for USI Foreign Language Academic Bowl
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Approximately 38 teams from 15 area high schools are preparing this week for the University of Southern Indiana's annual Foreign Language Academic Bowl, to be held Wednesday, April 6 at 9:30 a.m., in Carter Hall of the University Center. From 9:30 to 11 a.m., four Bowls will take place simultaneously – one in each French, German, Spanish and Latin. University professors will pose questions about everything from translations to geography and art, with each five-student team having 30 seconds to answer the questions in writing. “At the end of the competition, we choose three winners – first, second and third place,” said Carol MacKay, chair of the university's Foreign Language Department. “And after the bowl, we have awards ceremony at 11 a.m.; the students get plaques, trophies and ribbons.” Some schools will leave after the 11 a.m. awards ceremony; others remain for an 11:30 a.m. song competition – also held in Carter Hall. Each remaining team will perform a song about their respective language. The songs are judged based on creativity, cultural significance, performance, and pronunciation – basically, everything except for the team's singing ability, MacKay said. “They can't have recorded music,” MacKay said. “Some bring instruments, some play piano. And there is a wide variety of how much they put into it; many of them have costumes and posters, and some do little skits. “That's usually the fun part – it gives them some outlet for their creativity and knowledge of the culture and language.” A first-place trophy also is awarded for the song competition. The trophies, and other financial considerations for the Academic Bowl, receive significant support from the USI Foundation. |
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