The Fries Center for Global Studies is pleased to welcome two new Language Ambassadors this year and welcome back one. The Language Ambassadors are FCGS’s journalists, highlighting multilingual and multicultural events and efforts in the Wesleyan and broader Middletown community in articles for this blog! They also help coordinate FCGS events, as well as running their own. New this year, Maylyn Fidelia’s journalism and events will focus on celebrating lesser known languages. If you have an idea for an article or want a Language Ambassador to document your event, please reach out to glo@wesleyan.edu.
Zaynah Almasri ’27
Hello Everyone, my name is Zaynah Almasri and I’m a senior majoring in Psychology and Education Studies with a minor in French. I’m half German, half Syrian but I grew up in Morocco so my love for languages started early on. Alongside having been a Language Ambassador for 2 years, I’ve taken French, Spanish, and Hindi/Urdu at Wes. I also speak German and Darija (Moroccan Arabic). In my free time I enjoy dancing to clear my head. I’m part of the Latin and Ballroom Dance team, I’ve taken all three West African Dance classes (I highly recommend) and this semester I’m in the Sweet and Spicy Bollywood Dance class which has been really fun, so far. Please reach out if you have any questions or want to connect and chat about something that interests you, my email is zalmasri@wesleyan.edu. I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events!
Leila Bensrhir ’28
Hi, my name is Leila Bensrhir, and I am a Junior majoring in Government. During my time at Wesleyan, I’ve taken Arabic & French, as well as a couple of courses related to linguistics studies. Outside of Wes, I speak Moroccan Darija and a bit of Spanish. I have also studied abroad in Switzerland, where I furthered my French studies. One of my favorite things to do is go to concerts. I love music, and concerts are so much fun! I’ve seen so many artists, and it’s also one of my favorite ways to help me learn a language. If you have any questions/are interested in anything I’ve done, or just regarding language learning at Wesleyan overall, feel free to email me at lbensrhir@wesleyan.edu.
Maylyn Fidelia ’30
ᮝᮤᮜᮥᮏᮨᮀ ᮞᮥᮙ᮪ᮕᮤᮀ! My name is Maylyn Fidelia, and I come from Indonesia. The phrase you see above is a greeting in Sundanese, written in Aksara Sunda, a traditional writing system with influence from Sanskrit. Most Indonesians probably would not even recognize it because traditional aksara is now used much less often. Today, we mostly use the Latin alphabet, so the same greeting would usually be written as Wilujeng Sumping instead.
Sundanese is one of the many regional languages spoken in Indonesia. While Indonesian, or Bahasa Indonesia, is the country’s official language, Indonesia is home to hundreds of regional languages. This means that many Indonesians grow up speaking a regional language at home while also learning Indonesian as the common language used across the country. But just like Sundanese, many of these languages and their traditional writing systems are becoming less commonly used.
That is exactly why I am here: to study and research “lesser-known languages” that may be at risk of being lost. I also hope I can build a space to bring people together—people who come from similar communities like mine, or who simply want to learn about the languages that are often overlooked. If you’re interested in being a part of that or have any questions for me, you can contact me at mfidelia@wesleyan.edu .