UW to Offer Free Language, Culture Sessions via Zoom This Fall

Registrations are now being accepted for the popular World Language and Culture Program (WLCP) at the University of Wyoming this semester. A total of 19 nonformal world language and culture sessions are available free via Zoom.

The WLCP is a volunteer and service-learning program that offers free world language and culture sessions to members of the UW community and to those interested throughout the state.

Informal sessions in Arabic (Algerian, Sudanese and Egyptian), Armenian, Egyptian, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Philippine (Tagalog), Russian, Sinhala, Spanish (Mexican and Argentinian), Turkish and Uzbek -- along with aspects of culture -- begin Monday, Sept. 12, and end Saturday, Dec. 10.

Classes will be offered virtually throughout the day and early evening, generally once a week. To view the schedule or to register for a class, go to www.uwyo.edu/wlcp/index.html. The schedule also can be found on Facebook or by going here.

Dilnoza Khasilova, a UW graduate who earned her doctoral degree in literacy studies and is a current Global Engagement Fellow in UW’s Global Engagement Office, developed the WLCP in 2013. The program was launched in 2014 with the help of both UW’s local and international communities, including UW’s graduate students, faculty, staff and undergraduate exchange students who volunteered to teach their target languages and cultures.

“We will start offering our classes via Zoom again this semester. Only three language and culture sessions in Arabic and French will be offered in person for a small group of people. We want to stay safe and healthy,” Khasilova says. “Going virtual in 2020 allowed us to be inclusive and offer our service to the entire state of Wyoming, and some learners even are joining our classes from different states and countries.”

The WLCP provides opportunities to build a lifelong learning community of learners; develop cross-cultural understandings; service learning and teaching; volunteerism; engagement; internationalization; and language and culture exposure, Khasilova says.

The volunteer WLCP facilitators include both local and international students; faculty and staff; UW members who travel overseas or speak a world language; alumni; exchange students; visiting scholars; and both local and international community members.

The Associated Students of UW; the UW College of Education; the Global Engagement Office (International Students and Scholars, Education Abroad); and the Department of Modern and Classical Languages collaborate with the WLCP, assisting with scheduling the classrooms, recruiting volunteers and supporting cultural events on campus to celebrate world languages and cultures.

For more information, email the WLCP at wlc@uwyo.edu or go to www.uwyo.edu/wlcp/index.html.