PCAL Modern Languages

Every summer, middle and high school students attend WKU for three weeks to study an in-depth and engaging curriculum at the Summer Program for Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth (VAMPY), a program of the Center for Gifted Studies at WKU. Courses are available in a number of subjects including chemistry and writing. Modern languages are also offered at VAMPY, with the introductory Arabic course. The Arabic course has available scholarships from the Qatar Foundation International (QFI), to cover up to $2,000 of the program’s costs for students.

This summer, WKU Arabic instructor Lhousseine Guerwane, instructor of Arabic at WKU, will teach the Arabic course. Cody M. Smith, a teacher candidate in the WKU College of Education and Behavioral Sciences and student of WKU Modern Languages, will assist Professor Guerwane. During the three-weeks course, students will learn to read and write the Arabic alphabet, communicate on routine matters in everyday topics, and study cultural products and practices in the Arab world. The course will have two sessions every day, with one hour of review in the evenings over material the students have studied. However, the learning will not stop when students leave the classroom; students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge when talking with guest speakers and during class field trips.

Professor Guerwane told Modern Languages, “I am always looking forward to the next summer. This is the only group of students that asks for homework!” Professor Guerwane explains that the kids at VAMPY are so passionate about learning, ask great quality questions, and even ask him to give them homework so that they can practice the material at their dorms (even though homework is not generally required at VAMPY). Professor Guerwane commented that the students’ personalities and love of learning is similar to that of his undergraduate students in the Mahurin Honors College (MHC).