Valley Stream Central High School Students Practice College Interviews—In a Foreign Language!

Valley Stream, NY (October 2021)—What do foreign language studies and college interview exercises have in common? At Valley Stream Central High School, they come together through an innovative initiative developed by the High School’s World Language Department.

“Creating real-life scenarios for our students to hone their conversational foreign language skills is a critical part of our foreign language program,” said Dan Saitta, the District’s World Language Department Chairperson. “At this time of year, our seniors are deeply involved in the college application process, which for many will involve a college interview. We developed the World Language College Interview program to provide our students with practice in both areas. While their actual college interview will be in English, familiarizing our students with questions that might be asked during their college interview will help build their confidence, and conducting these practice interview sessions in the foreign language they are studying provides a wonderful opportunity to develop their conversational foreign language skills.”

The first session, held on October 8 for College Spanish and College French students, was hosted by Central High School’s new Librarian, Dolores Ayuso, who along with Spanish and French teachers from Central High School and Memorial Junior High School, served as college interviewers. The World Language College Interviews are the culminating activity for the first instructional unit that focused on college studies.

Questions asked during the practice foreign language interviews included:

“What have you done to prepare yourself for your college studies?”

“What is important that the college have for your studies?”

“How will you manage your finances?”

“Before you applied to this college, what other colleges had you investigated?”

Students were also given the opportunity to ask the interviewers about academic programs, college activities, entrance exams, dorms and internships. A similar session will be held for College Italian students at the end of October.

“This is a great experience for our students—it helps them prepare for their college interviews while developing expertise in the foreign language they have chosen to study,” said Dr. Joseph Pompilio, Valley Stream Central High School principal. “We are committed to providing our students with the necessary tools they need to excel in their education, as well as to develop the skills and self-confidence that will help them succeed in college and beyond.”

For more information about the Valley Stream Central High School District, please visit: https://www.vschsd.org and ‘like’ our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyStreamCentralHighSchoolDistrict