iAprenda Español!

Spanish immersion course once again being offered

The five-week long Spanish language and cultural immersion program, !Aprenda Español! will be conducted this summer at the St. Alphonsus Retreat House in New Ulm.

The program is open to pastoral leaders and parishioners who wish to become more active in the outreach to Hispanic Catholics in the diocese. Fourteen participants enrolled in the course for 2004 and an even larger enrollment is anticipated this summer.

The program was principally funded through a two-year grant that will expire at the conclusion of the summer course.

The immersion course allows for participants to study Spanish at one of three different skill levels. Participants are evaluated at the beginning of the course and then placed in groups that correspond with their abilities.

The sessions are usually held on Mondays through Wednesdays, although the course begins on Tuesday, July 5 because of the holiday and continues until Thursday of that week. The sessions end with a shortened week on Tuesday, August 2, concluding with a fiesta and the presentation of certificates.

Special seminars will be offered to benefit as many ministers in the diocese as possible. On Thursday afternoons, a Sacramental Presiding Seminar will be offered to priests, deacons, and liturgists who are involved with preparing and celebrating Spanish-language liturgies. On Tuesday evenings, a Conversation Seminar will be available for participants to con-verse in Spanish and to receive tutorial help with grammar and vocabulary.

The immersion course provides some unique experiences. Each day’s schedule includes a Spanish-language Mass. The Mass presents participants with the opportunities to become familiar with Spanish music and to lector in the language. Priests have the occasion to preside and preach in Spanish. Later in the course, participants are able to join and observe evening home visitation teams. This summer’s course will also include a language lab so that participants can work on the interactive CD’s that accompany the textbooks.

The three member faculty will be returning from last summer. Dr. Stewart James-Lejarcegui, from the Spanish department at St. Catherine College, will direct the academic program. Sr. Joanne O’Connor, SSND, a visiting professor of Spanish at Western Carolina University, in addition to her language skills provides a rich background in pastoral ministry. She prepares the daily liturgies, leads the music ministry, teaches pastoral ministry vocabulary, and directs the Sacrament Presiding Seminar. Mr. Steve Johnston teaches Spanish at St. Catherine College. He and Dr. James-Lejarcegui will direct the Conversation Seminar.

For further information about the summer Spanish Language and Cultural Immersion Course or to register, contact the diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry and Continuing Eduction, phone:(507) 359-2966; e-mail: jmichels@dnu.org.