On March 28, the Clarke was delighted to host our third annual day of international children’s literature. For the past two events, we have asked Central Michigan University students whose native language is something other than English to read a book from our collection in their native language – we have heard students read in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and much, much more.
This year, we
expanded the event and invited students from CMU’s English Language Institute
and CMU’s Dept. of World Languages and Cultures (formerly Foreign Languages,
Literatures, and Cultures). We also hosted a panel discussion made up of five
CMU professors in the evening who discussed youth literature as a vehicle for
communicating culture. To start the morning off, we welcomed students from the
English Language Institute. Each student had the opportunity to read a book in
their native language and a second book in English to practice their newly
learned English skills.
To begin the
afternoon, we invited CMU students from all corners of the globe to read a book
in their native languages. This year, we had eight readers read us a story in seven different languages – Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Persian, Spanish,
and Telugu (a language from India). During or after reading the story, each
reader summarized the story in English for the audience. All of our readers
read excellent stories that were not just simple “kiddie books.” These stories,
when read and translated by our readers, shared a little bit about the cultures
in which our students grew up.
Following the
international student readers, we invited students who study languages as part
of their coursework at CMU to read in their second, or in some cases, third,
language. Eleven students and two professors from the Department of World
Languages and Cultures read from the wide range of French, German, and Spanish
books in the Clarke’s holdings. The levels of the students ranged from
beginners to those with near-fluency and we were delighted to give these
students a chance to showcase their skills.
With
children’s books in over 40 languages from over 60 countries, the Clarke looks
forward to the opportunity each year to hear these books read in the language
in which they are written. We are lucky that Central Michigan University has
such a rich diversity of students, giving us access to these outstanding
cultural artifacts.