Indiana Humanities Council Grants

Among the recently announced grants from the Indiana Humanities Council is one to Purdue University in West Lafayette for "Communication Across the Language Barrier: The Basics of Community Translation and Interpreting".

Cecilia Tenorio, a Purdue faculty member in Spanish and director of the Community Assistance Program, will present a workshop in June for non-professionals on translation and interpreting with her grant.

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Spanish Courses & Cursos de Inglés

If you're an English-speaker looking for a Spanish class, or a Spanish-speaker looking for instruction in English, Language School and Services, part of Latino Advocacy in Community Affairs (LACA) at the Urban League, 777 Indiana Avenue, Indianapolis, may have what you seek. Registration for winter classes ends 11 December, and classes begin 4 January 2010.

LACA uses Total Physical Response (TPR). Students learn Spanish through interactive lessons that replicate real situations. Focus is given to comprehension and conversation, supplemented by grammar, reading, and writing. Home study and personal improvement are encouraged, but no homework or tests are required. LACA offers five intermediate and five advanced level classes at $175.

Classes require a minimum of five students and are held once a week only, most in the evenings from 6-8 p.m., for 10 weeks. The winter term is January-March, the spring term is March-May, the summer term is June-August and the fall term is September-November. Most classes are in the Urban League offices.

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ESL Program in Indy's Pike Township Expands

When school begins Tuesday (11 August) in Marion County's Pike Township, "Students who don't speak English fluently will get a language boost," writes Gretchen Becker in The Indianapolis Star's NorthIndy section on 8 August 2009. The district will be using the "Newcomer's Program" to target students with low English language skills. Several Pike teachers involved in the program are multi-lingual, including Mieke Kendrick-Lambrecht, a native of Belgium, who speaks English, Spanish, German, French, Dutch and Finnish. Last year, 17% of the district's students (some 1,854) were non-native speakers of English.

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Spanish-Language Program Back on the Airwaves

Scott Olson reports for the Indianapolis Business Journal that a local Hispanic television newscast is back on the air, less than six months after the parent of WISH-TV Channel 8 pulled the plug on him when it couldn’t reach a new agreement with Univision.

Marco Dominguez, a native of Venezuela, returned to the television airwaves on 30 April. Besides co-anchor Veronica Millan, his staff consists of three production people, an administrative assistant and two part-time sales associates.

They tape the half-hour show at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday followed by a 30-minute interview segment featuring a prominent member of the Hispanic community. Each day’s newscast is available to view on demand for the next 72 hours.

Thanks to about a dozen corporate and small business advertisers, in addition to a core group of investors, Olsen notes, Dominguez again is delivering the news in Spanish to the city’s Hispanic population.

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Mandarin Immersion Program to Debut at International School of Indiana

The International School of Indiana will begin a Mandarin immersion program at the kindergarten level next fall that aligns with the International Baccalaureate standards.

The new program, the first of its kind in Indiana, will be a significant addition to the school’s existing Spanish and French immersion programs and will reinforce ISI’s longstanding commitment to engaging Indiana in the global economy.

With more than 1,000 written characters and currently the most widely spoken language in the world, Mandarin is considered the gateway to a better understanding of Chinese culture, society and global influence. ISI students enrolled in the immersion program will master both Mandarin and English languages under the guidance of native-speaking teachers.

The Mandarin immersion program at ISI will begin this fall at the kindergarten level and will be extended up through the school, a grade level at a time, eventually expanding into the middle and high school programs.

In addition to the new Mandarin program, ISI is introducing new IB programs throughout the pre-elementary classes and grades 1-10, which align with the already successful IB Diploma program in grades 11 and 12.

Additionally, the school has substantially increased the time its high school students devote to the sciences. ISI students now easily fulfill the science requirements of the Indiana High School Honors Diploma at the conclusion of their sophomore year, paving the way for advanced science studies for junior and senior students in the IB Diploma program.

Parents interested in the Mandarin program for their children should call the ISI admissions office, 317:923-1951 Ext 369. For general information, visit the ISI website. ISI is currently enrolling students at most grade levels for August 2009, and welcomes applications from all prospective students, regardless of their previous language background.

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It's Purdue's International Week!

A series of events showcasing a variety of languages, cuisine and cultures will take place at Purdue University during Purdue International Week today through Saturday (22 November).

The kickoff event, called The Amazing Race, was at 1 p.m. today. International Week also will feature one-hour sessions of different languages including German, Hindi, Urdu, Japanese, Russian, Italian, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish and Arabic. Food from these countries will be served during the sessions, which are free and open to the public.

The Singapore Food Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (22 November)at the University Church Fellowship Hall, 320 North Street, West Lafayette.

The complete list of the times, dates and venues of all the events taking place during the Purdue International Week is here

Purdue International Week coincides with the International Education Week, which promotes educational programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and seeks to attract scholars from abroad to study in the United States.

It's Not Too Late to Catch Musica Latina

Dance Kaleidoscope's "Musica Latina," a family-friendly fiesta of Latin and Hispanic music and contemporary dance choreographed by artistic director David Hochoy continues at 8 p.m. tomorrow (18 October) and 2:30 p.m. Sunday (19 October) in the Indiana Repertory Theatre, 140 West Washington Street, Indianapolis.

Featured are Concierto de Aranjuez (concerto for classical Spanish guitar); Canciones (set to Mexican Mariachi-style songs); and Fire (a Cuban "salsa-style" dance variation)

Tickets are $35 -- but for the Sunday Family Matinee, all tickets are $10 each if purchased day of show. For more information, call 317:940-6555 or go online for tickets.

Ethnic Influences at Hoosier Storytelling Festival

America's immigrant heritage is a recurrent theme for the Hoosier Storytelling Festival, set for its 21st run 8-11 October in downtown Indianapolis' Military Park and across the street at the Indiana History Center.

Some of the featured storytellers at the event, sponsored by Storytelling Arts of Indiana, are Charlotte Blake Alston (African), Brenda Wong Aoki (Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Scottish) and Gene Tagaban (pictured; Cherokee, Tlingit and Filipino).

To find out more (and, to buy tickets), click here.

Campecine Film Festival

Join youth organizers and filmmakers at Campecine Film Festival from 1-4 p.m. 27 September at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis.

More than a film festival, Campecine was founded in 2007 by youth from Thermal, Calif., and Indianapolis, who are exploring collective action, film, inquiry, research and media education.

With the theme "From Invisible to Invincible / De Invinzivlez a Invenzivlez," Campecine 2008 will present student "testimonios," film and music. Program participants will view "Issue-Mations" (animations) and "Varriomentaries" (documentaries) and engage in a community dialogue on current issues including race relations, local and national immigration policy reforms, teen pregnancy, ICE Raids, and education.

In addition to student-produced cultural products, Campecine 2008 will feature live music from composer and pianist Dr. Gabriela Lena Frank.

Campecine 2008 is a free, Spanish-English bilingual event. Copies of student work will be made available and donations will be accepted to benefit the Latino Youth Collective.

Cine Latino Debuts at IMA in September

"Cine Latino: films from Latin America" includes four Thursday evening screenings in the DeBoest Lecture Hall of the Indianapolis Museum of Art featuring films from Latin America. All are in Spanish or Portuguese with English subtitles.

Here's the lineup for the 6:30 p.m. showings, for which tickets are $5 each:

4 September: "Golope de Estadio / Time Out"
(Colombia, 1999, 120 mins., dir. Sergio Cabrera)
As the nation teeters on the brink of civil war, most citizens are mesmerized by a championship soccer match. This includes a pilot whose excitement about Columbia scoring a goal causes him to crash into an American-owned oil tower at the center of a standoff between Colombian military guards and insurgent guerrilla forces. Golpe de Estadio is a scathing political and social satire of all the parties involved in one nation’s seemingly insurmountable problems. Shown in collaboration with Sociedad Amigos de Colombia.

11 September: "Eu Tu Eles / Me You Them"
(Brazil, 2000, 104 mins., dir. Andrucha Waddington (pictured))
Waddington’s gently ironic and seductively picturesque tale of female empowerment centers on an impoverished mother of four children by four different fathers. Based on a true story, Waddington explores how her heroine navigates an intensely patriarchal environment, as three of the fathers end up sharing a house with the mother and children. Shown in collaboration with the Association of International Women.

18 September: "La Zona / The Zone"
(Mexico, 2007, 97 mins., dir. Rodrigo Plá)
When an electrical storm disables security for a wealthy private community, three teenage boys from the slums sneak in with a plan to rob the homes and make a quick getaway. A bungled robbery results in the death of two of the teens, a security guard and a woman. While the third teen hides, the community declares martial law to prevent losing its privacy and protection. At once a taut thriller and a portrait of a society willing to give up its own humanity in the name of security, La Zona won the De Laurentis Award at the Venice International Film Festival and the International Critics’ Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

25 September: "Encarnación / Erni"
(Argentina, 2007, 93 mins., dir. Anahí Berneri)
Encarnación (Erni) is a fiercely independent woman. The former pin-up model and showgirl, now in her fifties and happily single, still has enough sex appeal and determination to keep her career going despite the passage of time. But when she receives an invitation to her favorite niece’s 15th birthday party, Erni puts herself to a harder test: returning to the small town she left behind. Encarnación won the Innovation Award at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Shown in collaboration with the Association of International Women.

"Latin Celelebration" for Canal Series

Guitarist John Alvarado (left), Flamenco dancer Melissa Perez and Orquesta Bravo will present a "Latin Celebration" 21 August as part of the Indiana Historical Society Concerts on the Canal series. It's outdoors, on the Canal Plaza next to the Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis.

Sponsored by the Indiana University School of Music at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, the presentation begins at 6 p.m. You can bring your own food and non-alcoholic beverages to the concert, but all alcohol must be purchased on site. A café, cash bar and outdoor grill are open from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Free seating is available on the Plaza steps and on the greenway across the Canal. You can reserve tables for four ($30) or eight ($40) by calling 317:232-1882.

Immersion Spanish Institutes

Many experts say immersion is the best way to learn a second language. Short of moving to Mexico, what's a Hoosier to do?

One idea: an Immersion Spanish Institute sponsored by Continuing Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. The next beginning level institute is the week of 9-13 June (with a reprise 4-8 August). From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each of those weeks, it's all Spanish, all the time in IUPUI's Cavanaugh Hall, 425 University Boulevard, Indianapolis. Cost is $559 (plus parking permit); Amy Bomke-Keating is the instructor.

There are more Immersion Spanish Institutes scheduled this summer for levels II, III, IV and advanced conversation, too.

For more information, go online or call 317:278-7600.

Phoenix Schedules Performances in Spanish

Our Dad is in Atlantis/Papá está en la Atlántida plays at the Phoenix Theatre, 749 North Park Avenue, Indianapolis, 8 May through 8 June -- but the best news is that some of the performances are in Spanish! (If you'd like to see the Spanish language performances, check for available tickets on 22, 23, 29, 30 May, 1, 5, 6 June.)

The show, which will enjoy its Midwest premiere, stars Julio Chavez and Mark Presto. Others involved are Composer/Accordionist David Wierhake, Direction & Light Design by Bryan Fonseca, Set Design by James Gross, Technical Direction by Justin Kidwell, and Stage Managed by Dani Norberg.

Summary: Papa crossed the border for a better life...but what happens to the sons he left behind? Told through the eyes of the two sons, Our Dad is in Atlantis is a touching coming-of-age story. After being left behind to live with their grandmother in Mexico, the two brothers decide to go on a quest to find their father who has left for Atlanta (or Atlantis, perhaps, according to the younger brother). Follow their journey as they discover lessons in life, live, loss, death, and maturity in this immigration story about the people left behind.

Tickets for all Spanish language performances are $15 apiece. They range up to $25 for English-language performances. To order, call 317:635-7529.

A Musical Tour of Three Continents

The University of Indianapolis Faculty Artist Series will conclude its 2007-2008 season 7 April with a whirlwind tour of three continents.

The free concert features music of French, Spanish, Hungarian and Argentinean composers, along with the premiere of a newly commissioned work by Assistant Professor John Berners (at right), who teaches music composition at UIndy.

Highlights will include soprano Kathleen Hacker performing the music of Saint-Saëns, Marko Petričić playing works by Soler and Ginastera on the bayan accordion, and the premiere of Berners’ Divertimento for oboe, trombone and string bass. Harry Miedema and friends conclude the evening with a unique jazz rendition of Gershwin’s “Summertime.”

The concert will take place in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall of the university's Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center, 1400 East Hanna Avenue, Indianapolis. For more information, call 317:788-3255 or visit the website.

Performers include Kathleen Hacker, soprano; Marko Petričić, bayan accordion; David Bellman, clarinet; Cathryn Gross, clarinet; Louise Alexander, violin; Michael Isaac Strauss, viola; Perry Scott, cello; Pamela French, oboe; Blake Schlabach, trombone; Peter Hansen, bass; Richard Ratliff, piano; Harry Miedema, tenor saxophone; Gary Walters, piano; and Jack Helsley, bass.

Immersion Spanish Institutes

A series of immersion Spanish institutes will be held next week by Continuing Studies of Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

Beginning, level II and level III will be held concurrently from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday (10 March) through Friday (14 March)in Community Life and Learning Center, 515 East Main Street, Carmel. Fee is $559.

"Spanish Conversation: A 3-Day Immersion" will take place at the center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Friday (12-14 March). Fee is $339.

For registration, contact Continuing Studies, 317:278-7600.

From French to Russian

Continuing Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis offers a wide variety of foreign language classes in and around Indy this winter. Many courses -- including Spanish, French, German and Russian -- start next week. Check 'em out and sign up to expand your world (and your mind!).

Multi-Language Website

The east central Indiana economic development organization Energize-ECI, Inc. is launching a new website it says will show the world that the region is serious about welcoming businesses to the area, according to Inside INdiana Business.

The site can be translated into six languages with the click of a mouse. It will be used as a global marketing tool to enhance economic development and job creation opportunities.

Look for tiny national flags at the top right-hand corner of the site to access automatic translations into French, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, German and Spanish.

Indy's International Cuisine

As Terry Kirts reports in the 25 July issue of NUVO Newsweekly, the best reason to get out your world atlas: new international cuisines:

"A good number of the recently opened eateries both downtown and elsewhere have been offering food from countries not already represented in the pantheon of Indy’s international restaurants. No longer are we just a city of Italian, Mexican and Chinese places. Alongside risotto and taquitos, we now have bacalao, churrascaria and pupusas. Besides BARcelona Tapas, Brazilian Grill on West 86th Street has introduced an entirely new concept of dining with its succulent grilled meats served tableside from giant rodzios. Latin American eateries like Guatelinda have come out from under the Mexican shadow to offer authentic dishes such as plantains stuffed with black beans, pupusas and tamales wrapped in banana leaves. More common cuisines, such as Indian, are turning up in some unusual settings, such as Tadkaa, which offers plenty of Bollywood and Indian pop, as well as vodka cocktails and a full range of Indian beers. With a Somali coffeehouse just east of the airport, Filipino food available in Beech Grove and a new Cuban café called TaTa’s planned for West Market downtown, you’ll want to rush your application for a passport so you can get it stamped all around this increasingly diverse city. Need some help navigating your way? The best local Web site for checking up on restaurants, both ethnic and otherwise, is still Indy Ethnic Food."

New Bilingual Newspaper to Debut This Week

The Times of Northwest Indiana will print the first issue of a new bilingual Spanish/English newspaper Wednesday, according to Inside INdiana Business.

VIVA Los Tiempos will be a free, weekly publication that will bring local, state, national and international news and information to the Hispanic population in northwest Indiana.

Non-English-Speaking? No problem!

The City of Fort Wayne has added language translation links to its official website.

It uses Google Translation Tools to perform the language translations from English into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic. Flag links for the respective languages can be found on each page on the City’s website.

The new initiative is designed to improve customer service to non-English speaking residents and visitors to the City’s website.

One caveat: "The automated translation services strive to perform the most accurate translations possible, but in some cases, translations may vary. Downloaded forms are not able to be translated at this time," the City notes.