Campus was filled with bilingual teenagers April 26.

There were 1,300 students from 45 different area high schools present during Foreign Language Field Day.

The events started at 8 a.m. with registration. Then, at 9 a.m., there was a culture bowl and vocabulary recognition test followed by poetry reading, reading comprehension, geography competition and a poster-making contest.

There were competitive events in French, German and Spanish, and non-competitive events in Japanese, Chinese and Russian.

This was the 31st annual foreign field day, and was the 10th year it has been ran by Dr. Tatiana Karmanova, director of the international language resource center. She said it has grown a lot from her first year.

“When I started there were only about four or five hundred students participating, and it has grown every year,” she said. “This year is the largest turn out we’ve ever had.”

At the end of the day, schools receive trophies for best overall school in each of the three main languages of focus.

There were also conversation stations throughout the whole day to give the students the chance to talk with one another in their second language. The day is not just about competing it gives the students a chance to communicate with other students who have been studying the same language.

“It’s a good chance to see that there are a lot of kids learning foreign languages these days,” said Penny Hagedorn, Joplin High School teacher.

She said the day was worth the students’ efforts.

“It is a really good chance for the kids to showcase their skills and practice the languages at all of the conversation stations,” she said.

The field day may be centered around learning, but several of the students say it is enjoyable also.

“I think it’s fun and it’s a good way to talk in a foreign language with someone our own age,” said Phillip Shurtleff, Joplin High School student.

Karmanova said the teachers also seem to like how organized the event is, and the fact that the high school students get to talk with upper class Missouri Southern students.

She said the day is also a good way to promote the school since Southern is the only institution in this area that organizes this kind of foreign language field day. For further information, contact Karmanova at 625-3109.