Translanguaging, the practice of leveraging all of one's linguistic knowledge to create meaning, is a pedagogical practice that meets students where they are in the process of learning a new language by validating students' individual experiences and allowing for mistakes. “Translanguaging Fridays” is the brainchild of two faculty from the Department of Romance Studies who created a classroom community that celebrates the use of multiple languages instead of limiting the focus to just one.
During “Translanguaging Friday” lessons, students from Spanish 111 and French 111, taught respectively by Liliana Paredes and Sandra Valnes Quammen, come together as one multilingual community. The two courses are accelerated elementary-level language classes meeting five days a week in the fall term, open to students with one year or less of high school-level Spanish or French. “Translanguaging Friday” lessons are conducted in French, Spanish and English and include multilingual games, discussions and projects that explore the use of multiple languages on Duke's campus and beyond.