By Andrew Fefer, reporter/editor
Students as young as age six will have the opportunity to learn some of the basics of three languages starting next month.
UW-Eau Claire foreign language students will teach the classes in beginning French (available for grades 1-2), beginning German (available for grades 1-5) and beginning Spanish (available for grades 1-5). The university students are currently taking the “Teaching Foreign Languages” course. The classes are free for children in the area.
Anne Hlas, an associate professor in the university’s Department of Languages, said that the classes are typically capped at 12 children per class, in each grade level. She was unsure of exactly how many children would be admitted to the program this year.
Hlas said that the mother of Paul Hoff, a UW-Eau Claire Spanish professor who is leading the effort this year, was also a professor at UW-Eau Claire. She was responsible for starting the free classes at least 25 years ago.
Hlas added that the classes give the university’s students, who begin class before the children arrive and continue after they leave, good real world experience. She also said that the classes are typically well-attended, particularly by first grade students.
The classes will be held on Thursdays from 4:10 p.m.-4:50 p.m. in Centennial
Hall, which is on Park Ave. on the UW-Eau Claire campus. They begin on April 5 and end on May 10. To enroll your student in one of the classes, click here.
Registration is available through Mar. 30. More information is available from Prof. Hoff at (715) 836-4437 or by email to hoffpj@uwec.edu.