Carleton’s School of Linguistics and Language Studies will be holding its first-ever Linguavision song competition on April 1.
The event will be held in Fenn Lounge from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. It will feature 24 contestants singing in a total of nine different languages. Students will compete for six prizes—and they can win up to $700.
“The goal is that we want to give students an opportunity to practice the language they’re learning outside the classroom, in some way that allows them to tap into the opportunity to give it a go,” event organizer Mike Barber said.
Registration opened Jan. 15 and filled up in slightly more than 24 hours, according to Barber.
The languages featured will include Italian, Spanish, German, Mandarin, French, Chinese, American Sign Language, Russian, Japanese, and English as a Second Language.
“It’s always exciting to see people do something they’re passionate about. It’s a singing competition and people will be putting their best foot forward,” Barber said. “It’s risky—they’re singing in front of a bunch of people they don’t know.”
Journalism student Miriam Abodunrin, is one of the 24 contestants. She is preparing to sing a song in French.
“What I am hoping to get out of the competition is more experience and more confidence in my abilities,” Abodunrin said. “When you don’t do something for a long time, you might lose the confidence to do it again. I want the confidence that comes along with practicing your craft.”
Barber said a panel of a dozen judges have been selected who are fluent in one or more of the 10 languages. They will evaluate students’ originality, interpretation, linguistic accuracy, and stage presence during the competition.
“It definitely gives participants the chance to be acknowledged for their language learning achievements, which is something that applause and cheering can do much better than a grade on a test, I believe,” said Viktor Amadeus Reichelt, a German exchange student and one of the Linguavision judges.
“We do live in a really multicultural country. This is kind of a celebration of that. Plus, it’s going to be fun. I think anybody who comes is going to have a blast. There’s going to loads of energy,” Barber said.
According to Carleton Linguavision’s event webpage, through music, an individual can uncover a country’s language in action. Barber said language is a unique way for a nation or culture to tell their story.
“It gives students a deeper appreciation of different cultures . . . we are interconnected in more ways than we’ve ever been,” he said. “To me, language and appreciation of diversity is an important aspect.”
