Today marks the beginning of Eastern’s Foreign Language Week.

The Foreign Language Department and Shelly French, this year’s coordinator for the week, have arranged events that focus on different languages taught here at Eastern. All the events will be held in Coleman Hall.

A German presentation featuring two German exchange students kicks off the week at 4 p.m. Two graduate students from Cologne, Germany will be speaking in the Language Lab, room 104, about their native town and country to give students an insight into the culture, French said.

At 6:30 p.m. a French film, “Un diner de cons” (“The Dinner Game”) will play in room 120; and at 8 p.m. a Spanish film, “Who the Hell is Julieta,” will play in room 120, French said.

On Tuesday the festivities start again at 4 p.m. with a German film, “Lola Rennt” (“Run, Lola, Run”) in room 104; and a Spanish film, “Tango,” starts at 6:30 p.m. in Coleman Auditorium. At 7 p.m. a collection of International music videos will play in room 102. French said that Carl Conrad, professor of German, put together a video tape of different music videos from different countries. The department has a satellite that allows them to see and record videos from all over the world, French said.

At 8 p.m. on Tuesday in room 104, a German film, “Jenseits der Stille” (“Beyond Silence”) will wrap up the day.

On Wednesday starting at 6 p.m. there will be a workshop, facilitated by French, for those students who don’t speak a word of German. French said she plans to use animal names and sounds to teach students a little bit of the German language. “I will teach them how to say the names of the animals in German and show them the sounds that those animals make in German,” French said. “Animal sounds are different in different languages,” she said.

At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday a Russian film, “Window to Paris,” will play in room 120 and Spanish Game Night starts at 7 p.m. in room 102. French said Spanish Game Night is just a chance for students who speak Spanish to get together and play Spanish games together.

On Thursday the festivities start at noon with a French table talk in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union in the bookstore lobby. “(The French Table) goes on all semester long,” French said. “These are people who get together every week to speak French in an informal atmosphere,” she said.

At 4 p.m. a presentation, Foto historia de El Salvador, will be in Coleman Hall Room 104. Attendees will spend an hour looking at pictures that tell the history of El Salvador, French said.

The week ends Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with a French film, “Buffet froid” (“Cold Cuts”), in room 120.

French said the Foreign Language Department thinks of this week and the events as “a way to generate interest in the study of foreign language and also in other cultures.” She said it is also a way to promote global citizenship and appreciation for multiculturalism.

For those interested in any of the events, a schedule for the week is posted on French’s web site at www.ux1@eiu.edu/~cfsf.