President's Message, Fall 2019
President's messages
Dear FLANC Members,
Sandra García Sanborn
Happy school year to everyone in the language teaching community! On behalf of FLANC, I want to start by thanking all language educators, exhibitors, affiliates, and presenters who made our last fall conference a terrific success. Thank you for making it such a fun and productive day!
Please, keep in mind that our Fall 2019 FLANC Conference is taking place a month ahead than usual. This year, we hope to see you all again on Saturday, September 21st at Salesian College Preparatory, in the City of Richmond, where conference presenters will share the latest pedagogical trends, best practices on technology-mediated tasks, and activities to integrate the intercultural dimension in language learning. Moreover, FLANC is honored to have Ms. Ying Jin, 2018 ACTFL Teacher of the Year, as the conference Keynote Speaker. We are excited and grateful for her participation and are looking forward to an outstanding, inspiring presentation.
Spring was a season full of wonderful surprises and experiences for me in the realm of languages and cultures. In April, I was once again kindly invited by CLTAC President Li and its Executive Board to participate in their yearly Mandarin Chinese Speech Contest --this one being their 44th!!-- and, just like last year, I was delighted by an engaging, diverse artistic program filled with music, dance, poetry, and the always magical Dragon Dance performance. Upon arrival, I got a warm welcome by my colleagues Hsin-Yun Liu and Wendy Tu, who made sure I had a terrific time all along and did not miss any detail. Needless to say, my very favorite moment was participating on stage, giving out diplomas and trophies to the many brilliant students who passed their tests with flying colors. It is such a beautiful ceremony brimming with excitement and joy from students and parents alike!
April was a very special month because I was also invited to the 6th Ocha Zanmai: 2019 San Francisco International Conference on Chanoyu and Tea Cultures, organized by Dr. Midori McKeon, professor of Japanese at California State University San Francisco. This year theme, International Commerce and the Development of Tea Cultures: Silk Road and the Age of Discovery, gathered local, national, and international presenters who focused on a diversity of cultures -Persian, Tibetan, Korean, Chinese, Japanese- and their relationship to tea cultures and textiles production as well as the disseminations of these traditions. Through enthusiastic and enlightening lectures about a diversity of related topics, attendees were mesmerized by a wealth of information about fields rarely explored and discussed in such depth in our region. Along the conference, Dr. McKeon was the most gracious hostess and, with outmost generosity, even arranged my participation in a tea ceremony attended by the presenters during lunchtime. This was a great honor and a special memory to keep. As a closing conference event, we were all invited to a tea testing of a variety of teas from Asia and to learn first hand, through a lecture and display of fabrics by Mr. Kazuhiro Suzuki, about ancient imported textiles and their relationship to Japanese tea culture. As Director of the Suzuki Research Institute of Ancient Textiles, Mr. Suzuki brought many exquisite samples from his personal collection and surprised each if us with a gift set of four different styles of textiles. Hats off to Dr. McKeon for offering such an impeccable event that was a rich, revealing experience for every one of us attending. I am certainly looking forward to the 7th Ocha Zanmai: San Francisco International Conference on Chanoyu and Tea Cultures next year.
Of course, I am also looking forward to participating in other cultural events and conferences organized by our affiliates and FLANC members so as to continue exploring, learning, and developing my own intercultural competence by becoming acquainted with the traditions of the culture behind each of the languages often represented at our conference.
Finally, I would like to remind our members to consider the various grants and awards offered by FLANC, which are announced in our website. Please, remember that each fall you can have your students send a video clip to the FLANC Digital Art Contest. This year the deadline is September 15th. Please, find more details in this fall Newsletter and keep in mind that entries will be broadcasted throughout the day during the conference.
I hope you join us this September 21st!!
Looking forward to meeting you at Salesian College Preparatory,
Sandra García Sanborn
FLANC President