“Muh ree, uh ggae, moo-reub, bahl, moo-reub, bahl” sings pre-law junior Sujeong Park as she teaches Fullbright Scholar Tulika Sharma, center, and accounting junior Anyi Wang the Korean version of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” during Korean coffee hour Wednesday night in the International Center.
Many MSU language departments are brewing up ways for students to gain out-of-the-classroom experiences.
In an effort to further students’ cultural understanding, the majority of language departments offer coffee hours, where students meet and engage in a variety of activities to enhance their knowledge of different languages. Languages that sponsor coffee hours or meetings include French, Chinese, Polish, German and Spanish, among others.
For more than 10 years the German language department has given students the opportunity to practice their speaking skills outside of the classroom in a coffee hour, during which students play games and speak in German to learn more about the culture.
Giving students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a foreign language is exciting, said Tom Lovik, a professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages.
“You see students who develop this interest and further it by going on study abroad or major in it,” Lovik said. “It opens their eyes to all the possibilities and to the opportunities outside the immediate university classroom.”
The Department of Korean Language and Culture hosted its first coffee hour of the semester Wednesday night. For Japanese senior Brad Griffin, it was his first experience at a language coffee hour.
“I thought it would be a way to get exposure to the language,” Griffin said.
Danielle Steider, program coordinator for the Less Commonly Taught Languages said the more students practice their language skills, the more they will understand the culture. She said coffee hours offer a more natural environment to learn a language than that of a classroom.
“The more experience students have using language or playing an instrument, the faster and better you will be at the skill,” Steider said. “Being able to be outside the classroom and chat about different topics and learn language will be internalized.”
Special education sophomore Kirstie Wee isn’t in a foreign language course, but she wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to gain a new perspective when she attended the Korean coffee hour day.
“It’s a good experience for everyone to expand their experience with the culture,” Wee said.
Learning another language also is beneficial for students, Lovik said.
“This is a global economy we’re living: everyone who’s suffering financially is learning that. It’s important for students to learn to compete, and if they are familiar with another language and culture it will help,” he said.
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