HOUSE MEMORIAL 53

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Natalie Figueroa

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

DECLARING MARCH 8, 2019 "UNM WORLD LANGUAGE EXPO DAY" IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE CELEBRATION OF TWENTY YEARS OF DIVERSITY OF WORLD LANGUAGES AND CULTURES.

 

     WHEREAS, language impacts the daily life of everyone and helps people express feelings and desires and to interact with others; and

     WHEREAS, spoken language allows humans to harness an innate ability to form lasting bonds with others and separates humanity from the rest of the animal kingdom; and

     WHEREAS, the ability to communicate in multiple languages is becoming more and more important in an increasingly integrated global community; and

     WHEREAS, learning another language correlates with higher academic achievement on standardized test measures as well as an increased ability to hypothesize, creatively solve problems and think critically; and

     WHEREAS, learning another language fosters appreciation and communication across cultures, a necessity in a globally connected environment; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico's foreign languages and literatures department celebrates the diversity of world languages and cultures by hosting the university of New Mexico's world language expo on March 2, 2019 on the university of New Mexico's main campus; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico's world language expo is celebrating twenty years of breaking down the walls that separate languages and cultures by bringing together New Mexico high school and university students, teachers, professors and community members from all over the world to honor bilingualism; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico's world language expo has celebrated more than forty languages and cultures, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Latin, ancient Greek, Swahili, African tribal languages, Farsi, Romanian, Hungarian, American sign language, K'iche', Hindi, Welsh and Dine; and

     WHEREAS, hundreds of students learn about tai chi, the Chinese dragon dance, how to participate in a Japanese tea ceremony and Arabic dabkeh dancing; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico's world language expo also features trivia and poster competitions, chalk art and poetry competitions;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that March 8, 2019 be declared "UNM World Language Expo Day" in the house of representatives and that twenty years of diversity of world languages and cultures be celebrated; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that New Mexico language teachers be recognized for inspiring their students to become informed global citizens and to appreciate their roles in the world; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the chair of the university of New Mexico department of foreign languages and literatures and the president of the university of New Mexico.

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