For the last nine months, DC Immersion was joined by our Multilingual Ambassadors, eight seniors from the International Academy of Roosevelt High School DCPS. These students created outreach strategies to increase attendance to our Multilingual Education Fair of DC. They reached out to their ANC commissioners, translated outreach materials, produced video content (see below), harnessed the influence of social media and went out to their neighborhood coffee shops, laundromats, restaurants, corner stores and public libraries.Their unique perspectives as emerging bilinguals were invaluable in our mission of making multilingualism the norm in the District of Columbia, and we are so proud and grateful for their efforts and contributions.
Julio Argueta, one of our Multilingual Ambassadors, was interviewed by another Ambassador, Heriberto Silvano Delgado, about his experience at DC Immersion and his beliefs about the value of multilingualism.
HSD: How did you hear about the DC Immersion’s internship?
HSD: ¿Cómo se enteró de la pasantía de DC Immersion?
JA: I was told by my counselor that the program was available and It immediately sparked my interest. She also told several students and about 10 of us were interested and eventually took part in the internship.
JA: Me enteré por mi consejera que el programa estaba disponible e inmediatamente despertó mi interés, ella también le dijo a varios estudiantes y aproximadamente 10 de nosotros estábamos interesados y eventualmente participamos en la pasantía.
HSD: What made you join the internship?
HSD: ¿Qué te hizo unirte a la pasantía?
JA: I think I joined because of how good it sounded (and it was). I thought being able to help the D.C. community in this unique way was going to be rewarding. Not only that, but an internship had already been suggested to me as a productive extracurricular activity and I saw this as an opportunity to do so.
JA: Creo que me uní por lo bueno que sonó y fue, poder ayudar a la comunidad de DC de esta manera única pensé que sería gratificante. No solo eso, sino que también me habían sugerido una pasantía como una actividad extracurricular productiva y lo vi como una oportunidad para hacerlo.
HSD: What did you enjoy the most during the time you spent working at DC Immersion?
HSD: ¿Qué fue lo que más disfrutó durante el tiempo que pasó trabajando en DC Immersion?
JA: The most rewarding experience and what I enjoyed the most was planning for the Multilingual Fair that took place in our school, Roosevelt Senior High School. Although I was unable to attend, it was carried out successfully and it looked very informative and educational.
JA: La experiencia más gratificante y lo que más disfruté fue planificar la Feria multilingüe que tuvo lugar en nuestra escuela Roosevelt Senior High School, aunque no pude asistir, se llevó a cabo con éxito y parecía muy informativa y educativa.
HSD: How would you describe your experience at DC Immersion?
HSD: ¿Cómo describirías tu experiencia en DC Immersion?
JA: If I could say just one word, it was lovely. Our supervisor was helpful, insightful, and cool. It was fun to walk every day. We had the program along with my classmates and the place where it took place was nice and peaceful.
JA: Si pudiera decir una sola palabra, fue encantadora, nuestra supervisora fue servicial, perspicaz y genial. Teníamos el programa junto con mis compañeros de clase y el lugar donde se llevó a cabo fue agradable y tranquilo.
HSD: What did you learn working at DC Immersion?
HSD: ¿Qué aprendiste trabajando en DC Immersion?
JA: I am more of a lone wolf, but during this program, I had to adjust myself to work with other people with different approaches to a problem. This gave me an opportunity to explore myself and better understand how I can deal with other people for good.
JA: Soy más un lobo solitario, pero durante este programa, tuve que adaptarme para trabajar con otras personas con diferentes enfoques a un problema, esto me dio la oportunidad de explorarme y comprender mejor cómo puedo tratar con otras personas para bueno.
HSD: Why is being multilingual important to you?
HSD: ¿Por qué es importante ser multilingüe para ti?
JA: Because it gives you new skills that you can use to be productive, it offers you better chances of employment and you can travel and meet new people easily. Besides, when you learn a new language you become culturally richer and more educated because learning the language might make you want to explore the places where it is spoken.
JA: Porque te da una nueva habilidad que puedes usar para ser productivo, te ofrece mejores oportunidades de empleo y puedes viajar y conocer gente nueva fácilmente. Además, cuando aprendes un nuevo idioma te vuelves culturalmente más rico y educado porque aprender el idioma te permite explorar los lugares donde se habla.
