USI World Languages and Cultures Department to host annual Academic High School Language Bowl

The University of Southern Indiana World Languages and Cultures Department is hosting the 2024 Academic High School Language Bowl at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 14 in Carter Hall in University Center West. Thirty teams representing French, German, Japanese and Spanish languages will compete from 14 regional high schools, with 150 students and teachers estimated to be in attendance.  

“The World Languages and Cultures Academic Bowl is one of our favorite annual events and a vitally important one for regional language students and faculty,” said Dr. David Hitchcock, Chair of the World Languages and Cultures Department. “By bringing together area high school teams for a friendly competition, the Bowl provides participants an opportunity to interact, appreciate how much they already know about places in which languages other than English are spoken and the cultural norms of the people who speak to them, and learn more about USI and its offerings." 

This event will include a grammar, culture, and video competition for German, French, Japanese and Spanish languages focused on specific topics. See below for the event schedule and topics covered in the competition. 

Language and Culture Competition: 9:15-10 a.m. 

Teams will answer questions on grammar and culture. As in previous years, grammar questions will cover material through the intermediate level in each language. This year, the culture questions will focus on a theme. 

• French questions will be focused on the Republic of the Congo. 
• German questions will be focused on Sports of the Germanophone world. 
• Japanese questions will be focused on Japanese food. 
• Spanish questions will be focused on the cultures of the Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru). 

Video Competition: 10:15-10:45 a.m. 

Themes for the videos are listed below. 

• French video: Students will prepare a creative, engaging and well-researched video presenting scientific and/or technological advances made by Francophone scientists. 
• German video: Students will prepare a creative, engaging and well-researched video providing instructions for playing a sport (real or imaginary) connected with the Germanophone world. 
• Japanese video: Students will prepare a creative, engaging and well-researched video of Japanese pop culture. 
• Spanish video: Students will prepare a creative, engaging and well-researched video on an Andean trip that includes stops in at least two countries. 

To learn more about the 2024 Academic High School Language Bowl, visit the College of Liberal Arts’ website.