In October, Wright State University held the annual French and Spanish Immersion Days. Local high schools send students to WSU to speak their chosen language and learn about the corresponding culture for a whole day.
Every year, WSU hosts themed days of cultural study, during which students from local high schools are allowed to visit the campus and speak their chosen language of study for a whole day. These immersive days are offered by the French and Spanish departments.
WSU has been hosting Spanish Immersion Day for over twenty years. On Oct. 28, the yearly tradition was held in the Apollo Room of the Student Union.
A slightly newer event, WSU hosted its 19th French Immersion Day on Oct. 23 at the same location.
French Immersion Day
Karine O. Daddah, Senior Lecturer, has been teaching French at WSU since 2008. She was in charge of the planning of this year’s French Immersion Day.
“We had 180 high school students, 14 teachers from 11 Ohio schools,” Daddah said. “But this year was very special because we had a school [that] came all the way from Cleveland, and that's a long way from here.”
Daddah discussed the theming of each year’s event, and the shifting focus to different cultures. Last year's was Notre Dame. This year, the theme was “Polynésie Française,” or French Polynesia. The day dove into the cultures of the more than one hundred islands located there, with a primary focus on the island Tahiti.
One of the ways that the day is so immersive in French culture is everyone’s dedication to speaking only French for the entirety of the event.
“We do a parade of all the French-speaking countries' flags in the world, including Ohio. You know, you have to have the Ohio flag. And we had Rowdy this year, who came. The kids absolutely loved him. And after that, we sing the national anthem, the French one,” Daddah said.
Daddah listed her colleagues– French professors Dr. Kirsten Halling and Dr. Pascale Abadie, and instructor Jean-Michel Lamoine– stating how much they helped. She shared that at one point in the event, the four of them each led a different activity for students to rotate between. Cultural elements of food, history, music and dance were all brought in.
The food served was all French, and the professors ensured that every student, both high school and WSU volunteers, got to eat.
“It's more than just speaking French for the hours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It's more than just dancing or eating French food or doing a game. It's sharing the love of the French culture, the French language, with all those high schoolers and trying to make a difference and also putting [WSU] on the map,” Daddah said.
Spanish Immersion Day
Dorothy Alvarez, Senior Lecturer of Spanish, was in charge of planning Spanish Immersion Day this year. She has been involved in the event since she joined WSU in 2001, but this was her first time leading the efforts.
“The event brought 251 students and 20 teachers from 14 high schools to campus. The day was made possible by the support of WSU Spanish faculty, alumni and over 40 WSU student volunteers,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez shared that WSU language students help to lead the day, as well as other students who volunteer, such as members of Amigos Latinos. She listed Spanish department professors Dr. Ksenia Bonch Reeves, Dr. Melissa Doran and Dr. Damaris Serrano, lecturer Michelle Cipriano and instructor Fátima Araúz.
“School participants pledge to speak only Spanish from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., in which there will be a variety of activities centered around the theme of ¡La España por conocer!” Alvarez said. “Throughout the day, high school students had the opportunity to be engaged in various activities designed to learn Spain's rich culture and the Spanish language.”
In addition to the activities, such as raffles and lotteries, prepared by faculty, WSU Spanish students prepared presentations and interactive games about Galicia, Spain.
“We are very proud of all our WSU students, language faculty and staff, WSU Staff and alumni. We are very proud of the high school Spanish teachers, especially several of them who were students in our classrooms when they were attending WSU,” Alvarez said.
WSU alumni showed up in several ways, including working as the DJ, so students could enjoy traditional Spanish music. Alvarez shared that there were elements of dance in the event.
Food was served at the event, WSU’s dining services providing the dishes for the day.
“Our goal is to encourage high school students to continue with Spanish and to give the teacher an enjoyable day of professional development,” Alvarez said.
Immersion Days’ futures and impact
According to Daddah, the Immersion Days are unique events at WSU. She said there are no other days like them any time of year.
“Ohio State [University] contacted us a few months ago. They found out about our immersion day. They've never had one. And I'm like, what? And they were like, do you mind sharing how you do it? I'm like, sure. Here's the Dropbox file. Go ahead. And so that makes us proud,” Daddah said.
With the willingness to collaborate, there is a chance similar events will come to OSU in the future. Either way, each year’s Immersion Days look very different at WSU.
“We are planning to incorporate a game: domino. We are having students learn how to play a very popular game played in El Caribe,” Alvarez said about the department's plans for next year, and that the theme will be “Al Ritmo del Caribe.”
Next year, French Immersion Day will be held on Oct. 22, 2026, and Spanish Immersion Day will be held on Oct. 27, 2026.
