ANU, Spanish embassies celebrate Spanish Language Day

The Australian National University (ANU) staff and students joined the Spanish embassies to celebrate the Day of the Spanish Language held at the National Library of Australia on 5 May 2023.  

Professor Catherine Travis, Chair of Modern European Languages at ANU, attended the event to mark the special occasion. Professor Travis said, “The Day of the Spanish Language is in recognition of the diversity of Spanish, which reflects a long history of conflict and allegiance, of journeys and habitation, of tradition and change.”

There was a poster competition organised for ANU Spanish students by the Hispanic diplomatic missions in Canberra, the Instituto Cervantes, and the ANU Spanish programme. Students made a poster dedicated to a different country as part of the celebrations of the Day of the Spanish Language. 15 ANU students, who won the competition, were awarded at the event.

Heads of Mission of the 15 Embassies of the Spanish-speaking countries accredited to Australia: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela were present for the event. The Director of the Instituto Cervantes in Sydney (the Spanish cultural institute), Ms. Coral Martínez also attended the event.

The United Nations declared 23 April 2023 as Spanish Language Day to increase awareness of the history, cultures and uses of Spanish. Spanish is one of the most popular languages in Australia and nearly 500 students study the language at ANU each year.

The winners of the poster-making competition at ANU are:

• Kevin Bao
• Emilie McKenna
• Tshering Yangden
• Preashika Dhakal
• Ayva Barney
• Sophie Van Raad
• Clare Hopper
• Olivia De Wit
• Liam Goggin
• Charlotte Thomas
• Jemma Paton
• Ellie Mead
• Xuming Du
• Laiken Tuadles
• Tamsin Gard'Ner