UNL’s 38th annual Modern Language Fair is April 10, and organizers are calling for entries into the $1,000 scholarship essay contest, which has a submission deadline of March 7.
Junior and senior high school students are invited to compete for four $1,000 scholarships in the essay contest. The contest is open to eligible students who will enroll at UNL and declare a major in French, German or Spanish. To enter, students can submit a 300-word essay written in Spanish, French or German around this year’s theme: “How will a degree in modern languages help me achieve my future goals?” Three finalists from each category will be notified by March 24. The finalists in each category will give a five-minute presentation at the fair where they will read their essay and answer questions from a panel of judges in the target language.
The fair will be conducted in the Nebraska Union, and will give high school students the opportunity to showcase foreign language skills through competitions, including dramatic readings, musical performances and reciting poetry. Students can also design a colorful and informative poster on the theme of folklore. The fair offers competitions in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Japanese and against students of similar skill levels. Faculty and graduate students from UNL’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures serve as judges.
There are also non-competitive opportunities such as language mini-lessons, international folk dancing lessons and campus tours.
Registration is 8 a.m. with opening ceremonies at 9. The day wraps up with a 2 p.m. awards ceremony.
There is no registration deadline, although the fee for those who pre-register by March 7 is $9. The registration fee on the day of the event is $12. Any student is welcome, but must be accompanied by a teacher from his or her school.
For more details, go to http://go.unl.edu/abm or contact Shannon Parry, Modern Language Fair coordinator, at 402-472-7032 or sparry3@unl.edu.
