Monday, May 9, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Website aids students
in learning languages
Bilingual Chat
provides practice of
foreign languages
By YOUNJOO SANG
For the Daily
Learning a foreign language
is often a daunting task for
many students, but with a new
social network catered specifi-
cally towards people striving
to improve their speaking and
writing skills, this process may
become a bit easier.
Bilingualchat.com, a free online
website launched in April, aims to
help people who are learning for-
eign languages by fostering com-
munication with others also using
that language through email, chat
rooms and video chat.
The website is similar to other
social networking websites - fea-
turing profiles where users can
post messages - and allows people
to join chat rooms in 53 different
languages, as well as participate in
blogs and forums about different
countries and cultures.
Bilingual Chat also provides
features such as an online trans-
lator and a system that supports
multiple keyboards, allowing users
to type in several foreign scripts.
Jamie Sprenger, creator of
Bilingual Chat, wrote in an e-mail
interview she developed the web-
site as a way to maintain her for-
eign language skills. Sprenger
came up with the website's con-
cept last summer after realizing
she wasn't speaking Spanish and
Portuguese as much while she was
busy learning French and Italian.
"I realized that if I didn't prac-
tice my Spanish and Portuguese,
I was going to forget everything
I'd spent so many years learning,"
Sprenger wrote.
Sprenger added she has always
been interested in having an inter-
national pen pal, and even tried
to find one online while studying
Spanish in high school and college.
"I put an ad on an English web-
site seeking a foreign language
partner, but never seemed to find
the time to organize a meet-up,"
she wrote. "It was too complicated
to coordinate schedules, travel
across London to meet the people,
and to be honest I was way too shy
and nervous. I wanted to chat with
international friends online."
After encountering difficulty in
practicing languages with others,
Sprenger came up with the idea to
create a website that would make
it easier for herself and others to
interact.
"I decided that since what I
needed wasn't available, I'd create
it myself," Sprenger said.
While it is a new website,
Sprenger said she has high hopes
for Bilingual Chat, including
increasing membership though
she wrote it is already "growing
extremely rapidly."
Like Sprenger, students at the
University said they also want to
improve their foreign language
speaking skills through interac-
tion with others. LSA junior Mat-
thew Hardison, who took Spanish
at the University, said he feels
there has been a lack of emphasis
on speaking in the curriculum.
"I feel like they never really
stressed the speaking of the lan-
guage," Hardison said.
Hardison added that a website
like Bilingual Chat would have
been helpful while he was learn-
ing Spanish.
"I thought there should be a
separate hour for speaking (during
language classes)," Hardison said.
Business and Kinesiology junior
Brandon Rhodes said Bilingual
Chat would also be beneficial
because it allows students to speak
with native speakers.
"Talking to people from that
area would be helpful," Rhodes
said. "In a classroom setting, you
learn how to read and write, but
speaking isn't something that
comes naturally."
SYMPOSIUM
From Page 1
plines is difficult, but ultimate-
ly is rewardinghwork for both
research and the education of
students.
"Our graduates must be pre-
pared to address the very messy
problems presented by the world
and these problems are not neatly
contained by disciplinary bound-
aries," Coleman said.
"Ensuring that art making
and the arts are tightly woven
into the fabric of the research
university ensures that gradu-
ates can and will contribute more
effectively to society. It is imper-
ative that we continue to find
ways to help students develop
their full creative and cognitive
skills," she added.
After speaking, Coleman
introduced Shirley Tilghman,
presidentof Princeton University,
who applauded the University for
hosting the conference dedicated
to the importance of the arts at
SAWAS
From Page 3
"I want people to come to the
market and want to spend an hour
and a half here...I grew up in New
York City...that's one of the things
we really miss, these amazing
markets," Lelcaj said.
Though restaurants and mar-
kets like Zingerman's, White Mar-
ket and Replenish are all located in
Ann Arbor and easily accessible to
students, Lelcaj said she is not wor-
ried about competition due to the
difference in location and prod-
ucts.
"(Zingerman's) has a really
unique style of product and style of
service ... and it's really out of the
way in terms of the demographic
we're tryingto market to," she said.
Lelcaj said she hopes to add
valet parking at some point as well
as a garden where she can grow
herbs, allowing her to expand fla-
vors and change the items on her
restaurant's menu without having
to increase prices.
Sarah Power, Lelcaj's director of
operations, said she is enthusiastic
about the addition of the market to
the Washington Street area.
"Generally, we are branding
research universities.
In her address, Tilghman said
educators are often focused on
the importance of studying the
arts and creating opportunities
for its creation in conjunction
with the application of sciences.
She added that this discussion
takes place in a time of financial
hardship, and issues with funding
often cause the arts to disappear
first at educational institutions.
"The ultimate goal of this
meeting is to drive national
momentum to develop better
ways to integrate art making and
the arts into the research univer-
sity - something that is critically
important to the health of the
arts, our institutions, and Ameri-
can society," Tilghman said.
Tilghman also said the pro-
duction of art has benefited
Princeton's campus. She men-
tioned several examples of inter-
disciplinary creative efforts that
enhanced the quality of learning
and the appreciation for art at
Princeton.
"For me, the first and fore-
most reason for cultivating art
ourselves as Ann Arbor's most
comprehensive local and inter-
national food emporium and pre-
pared food shop," Power said.
Power said the market will pro-
vide customers with an experience
that is different from similar busi-
nesses in Ann Arbor, adding that
they hope to eventually deliver
groceries to "people who are work-
ing or at home with tons of kids and
don't have time to go grocery shop-
ping."
Power said she is not worried
about Subway being right next-
door to where the market will be
because their market has an edge
over more commercial businesses.
"With any kind of corporate
chain you're getting consistency,"
Power said. "The difference with
us is that because we're going to
be doing things seasonally...and
changing distributors and farms,
it's really a personal thing."
LSA sophomore Justin Collins,
a resident at Sterling 411 Lofts, said
he is looking forward to having a
market in the building.
"It adds to the convenience
of living here," Collins said.
"Because this is not necessarily a
great location, it's not very close
to many markets."
Music, Theatre & Dance and
making on our campus is the
impetus it gives to a discrete and
crucial way of interacting with
the world," Tilghman said. "Just
as disciplines like mathematics
and philosophy demand that we
both think and express ourselves
in specific languages, the arts
engender a unique creative sen-
sibility."
The opening night of the
symposium, titled "The role of'
art-making and the arts in the
research university", also includ-
ed speeches from the deans of the
four schools on North Campus.
Rackham Dean and Vice Pro-
vost for Academic Affairs Janet
Weiss said the idea for the con-
ference emerged from the part-
nership among the four schools
as part of an initiative to increase
arts efforts on campus.
"The deans have been work-
ing together with imagination
and gusto to accelerate the cre-
ative output of the Michigan
community and to deepen our
collective involvement in arts
throughout the University,"
Weiss said.
LSA junior Ashley Park said the
market's location will be conve-
nient for students because there
are not many other markets in the
vicinity.
"There's not a lot of places
with fresh produce around here,
I think the closest is Sparrow
Market" Park said. "Kerrytown
doesn't seem very far away, but
it's actually quite a walk, espe-
cially in the winter."
LSA sophomore Emily Jaffe
said that while she anticipates
that the store will be expensive,
she will still come to the store
from time to time once it opens.
"It will be great to have food
nearby, as long as it's healthy
food it will be nice to have," she
said. "I'm assuming it's going to
be kind of pricey, so I'll probably
just shop there once in a while."
Jaffe added that she thinks the
market will attract more people
to the Washington Street area.
"It doesn't seem as busy here as
Liberty or Main Street," she said.
"I think it will draw some more
people over here. Subway is nice
to have, but I don't think it draws
the same crowd."
- Daily News Editor Sarah
Alsaden contributed to this report.
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