Just imagine the excitement of starting preschool for the first time! Then -- o-oh -- what is this lady saying to me? How do I tell her I need to go to the bathroom? The teacher is looking at me. What is she saying?

Arabic is among the top 30 languages spoken in Chicago. The 2000 US Census count identified more than 11,000 speakers of Arabic in Chicago. Between October 2006 and July 2009, at least 1,500 more were counted. Many of these new arrivals are refugees from Iraq as reported in the article, "Abandoned. Adrift. Enduring." (Chicago Tribune, 10/25/09, by James Jarrega and Antonio Oliva.)

Speaking in Tongues is a film about bilingualism.  The producers have expanded their scope to document the experience not only of children learning Cantonese but also English learners in a Spanish immersion program and African American students in San Francisco's first Mandarin immersion program.

ACTFL has been contracted by the Defense Language Institute to provide proficiency testing support.  This project is part of a greater initiative to increase the U.S. government's ability to provide accurate and reliable testing in a number of essential languages for government agencies.

Click here for an interesting and lively list of quotes from important individuals in the business world.

Ever wonder what languages are spoken in your county or zip code?  The Modern Language Assocation can help you find out!  Go to http://www.mla.org/map_single

Check it out!  The Heritage Language Coop  (http://hlc.uic.edu) was established through the initiative of Dr. Kim Potowski, Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of Spanish for Heritage Speakers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.