As of this fall, the Language Houses will no longer be actual houses. All three language communities will be relocated from their current location on Laclede Avenue to the new Language Villa in Notre Dame Hall. Instead of each language having its own house, the languages will be broken into floors; Spanish and French will have their own floors, while German and Italian-a new language community at SLU-will share a floor.
“This move allows for improvement of the program,” said Ana Montero, Ph.D., faculty liaison of the Spanish House. “I’m excited for the program to keep growing, to be open to more students and to integrate Italian.”
The decision to move was a collaboration between the faculty liaisons of the houses as well as the Department of Housing and Residential Life. The department is exploring several options for how to use the Language Houses soon-to-be-vacated space, but it is still unknown what will happen to them once the language communities have moved out.
According to Evelyn Meyer, Ph.D., faculty liaison of the German house, the houses will most likely remain as student housing but will no longer serve as language learning communities.
“The houses are limited, and this move will grow the program,” said Meyer.
Currently, there are five people in the German House: four students and a foreign language teaching assistant. In the Language Villa, there will be room for nine students, and the FLTA. Spanish would increase to 20 people and French to 12 people, including the FLTA, while Italian would also have nine students and the FLTA.
The move will also provide students the opportunity of single rooms. Right now, all rooms in the language houses are doubles, with the exception of the FLTAs.
Another new feature to the Language Villa will be the inclusion of freshmen into the program.
“Accepting freshmen is advantageous yet problematic,” said Belén Gauna, FLTA for the Spanish House. “They have separate policies and an overall different experience.”
Montero explained that a requirement to the program is to have the students, both freshmen and upperclassmen, enhance their experience by enrolling in MLNG 193 Living Languages Through Community Learning.Freshmen are also expected to enroll in a special section of HIST 112: Origins of the Modern World to 1600, open only to Language Villa residents, while both freshmen and upperclassmen would enroll in the usual level of their respective language.
“Living with a native speaker in Notre Dame, common coursework and fun activities would help the freshmen to improve their language skills and culture,” Montero said.
Even so, current students foresee problems with the issue of community.
“The house is like my second family, and a sense of community cannot be replicated with singles,” said Stacey Hayes, a sophomore and resident of the Spanish House since fall 2007.
Hayes originally chose to live in the Spanish House in order to practice the language.
“As an only child, I’ve enjoyed living in the house with lots of people as well as the practice,” said Carolina Mussa-Ivaldi, a junior and resident of the Spanish House since the fall of 2006.
“Moving to Notre Dame is not a great idea. A dorm setting would not encourage community.”
“One kitchen for 60 people is a bit much,” remarked Gauna. “I don’t want to be pessimistic, but this could be for better or worse.”
Meyer is supportive of this move and open to the changes that are bound to come with it.
“The close-knit community could be lost but the interaction could be there. Overall, I think it’s a great idea with many new possibilities.”
On Monday, Feb. 4, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., the Language Villa is hosting an open house for interested students to learn more about the learning community.
