winter 2007 - Concord Academy

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up for the class), then studied on his own another ten tofifteen hours a week. He listened to tapes, made endlesspiles of flashcards, and scrawled Korean words on awhite board in his living room. The language devoteeimmersed himself with such energy that he covered theequivalent of a year of college Korean in ten weeks.While Giannino-Racine stands apart for tackling a nonromancelanguage and for the intensity of his approach, heis not alone in his idiomatic pursuits. In fact, at CA, therepercussions of language study travel well beyond thelanguage classroom — and beyond the straightforwardbut important ability to converse. Faculty members’ passionfor languages pervades the campus and curricula,affecting students in ways both overt and subtle.Beyond the obvious advantage of conversation, languagestudy brings to campus a variety of tangible benefits. Forexample, Giannino-Racine, along with history teacherPeter Sun, who is Korean-American, shared research intoKorean culture and learning styles at a faculty meeting,discussing, among other things, students’ overridingcourtesy and concern for their families. Teachers learnedthat what they may have considered shyness or discomfortwith English actually could have more complicatedroots. “Koreans may avoid asking you a question notbecause their language skills are poor,” explainedGiannino-Racine, “but because they don’t want to insultyou.” In Korea, questions can be considered disrespectful,implying that a teacher didn’t communicate his or herlesson adequately.In the case of English teacher Cammy Thomas, languagestudy had a direct impact in the classroom. Frustratedteaching only the English translation of The Odyssey, shestudied Homeric Greek, poring over favorite scenes inHomer’s epic with her instructor to better understand theoriginal text. Now when Athena shrinks Odysseus into ashriveled beggar, her students hear about it in thedescriptive language the author intended.It’s not unusual for foreign language study to find ahome within literature or theatre classes at CA, or duringrehearsals for a play. Both English teacher Liz Bedelland theatre teacher Megan Gleeson have invited SusanAdams, head of the Modern and Classical LanguagesDepartment, to discuss the German origins of BertoltBrecht’s The Threepenny Opera. “In the theatre, so muchof the world we create on stage depends upon the(continued on page 27)Rachel and David: The Language of Loveby Nora Christiani ’07CONCORD ACADEMY MAGAZINE WINTER 200724“David, time for bed. Turn offthe television . . . Davidito,apagas el televisor por favor . . . ya te lodije. ¡Apágalo! Ahora mismo.”“I’m going…”“Basta, David. Uno . . . dos . . .”While a struggle between siblingsover the television may be commonto many families, this exchangebetween Rachel Frenkil ’08 and herbrother David tells a unique storyabout Rachel, her love for languages,and the sibling who gave newpurpose to her language studies.Rachel began to learn Spanish beforeage two under the tutelage of herbilingual mother, Cynthia Frenkil.At five, Rachel “went to college,”taking Spanish classes for kids atBoston University; she continuedlearning Spanish with tutorsthroughout elementary school.But when Rachel was seven, her reasonsfor speaking Spanish drasticallychanged: her family adopted David,a baby boy from Guatemala. Withher brother’s heritage giving newmeaning to her Spanish lessons,Rachel’s language skills began toimprove. Meanwhile David was
Frustrated teaching only the Englishtranslation of The Odyssey,she studied Homeric Greek, poringover favorite scenes in Homer’s epicwith her instructor to betterunderstand the original text. Nowwhen Athena shrinks Odysseus into ashriveled beggar, her students hearabout it in the descriptive languagethe author intended.learning Spanish from his motherand from Rachel and English fromhis father.In fourth grade, Rachel’s languageskills took off in a new directionwhen her school required studentsto study French. Having masteredSpanish, French was relatively easy,but Rachel recognized that she waslearning it in a more academic way,unlike the casual conversationalroots of her Spanish—a differencebetween her relationships with thetwo languages that continues today.By high school, Rachel was fluent inboth Spanish and French.Rachel entered Concord Academyin 2005 and this year is takingAdvanced Spanish and German I(her fourth language). Despite herexperience, Rachel says her Spanishclass is challenging, but in a newway. In addition to the difficultnature of the course’s advancedgrammar, Rachel said, “I’m not usedto learning Spanish in a classroomsetting.”In the Frenkil home, languages continueto permeate the atmosphere.Frenkil’s mother speaks to her childrenonly in Spanish. Rachel generallyspeaks to her brother in English,though when angry will switch intoSpanish (apagas el televisor!).Rachel hopes some day to use theseskills and to become an interpreter.“In college, I’m going to try to learnas many different languages as I canand study abroad,” she said. “I alsodefinitely want to live in Europe if Ican when I’m out of college, partiallybecause I think my languageskills will be more useful there andalso because I want to experiencewhat it’s like to live in a country thatisn’t America.”She tasted the experience duringspring vacation last March, whenRachel and her family traveled toGuatemala, hoping to reconnectDavid with his birth country. Thetrip honed Rachel’s Spanish abilities;she was responsible for communicatingfor herself and her father, whospeaks little Spanish, when hermother wasn’t with them. Moreimportant, it gave her insight intowhat the Spanish language andGuatemalan heritage mean toDavid—and provided a powerfullesson in the ways bilingualism canconnect people.When the Frenkils visited Mayanruins, a graduate student in archeologyeducated the family aboutDavid’s almost-extinct tribe ofMayan lineage. From that lesson,they were able to identify the traditionalclothing patterns of his ancestors.Rachel, seeing how importantsomething as simple as fabricpatterns was for her brother, beganto understand the links David feltto his past.The trip to Guatemala and, moregenerally, living with a brother whowas adopted, have given Rachel aunique perspective on languages.For her, language is more than alist of vocabulary words and conjugations.Spanish provides a vibrantlink between Rachel, David, andDavid’s history. It allows her tocommunicate and, most important,to connect.25WWW.CONCORDACADEMY.ORG WINTER 2007
Page 3: winter 2007EditorGail FriedmanManag
Page 10 and 11: CAMPUS NEWSIndependent ThoughtHead
Page 12 and 13: CAMPUS NEWSFarewellColleagues, alum
Page 14 and 15: ALUMNAE/IPROFILESNancy Jaicks Alexa
Page 16 and 17: CONCORD ACADEMY MAGAZINE WINTER 200
Page 18 and 19: Rebecca Foy“What it comes down to
Page 20 and 21: Ralph Rugoff ’75 invited artists
Page 22 and 23: Convocation 2006David RostCONCORD A
Page 24 and 25: y Gail FriedmanIllustrations by Rob
Page 28 and 29: “SA FrenchConnectionby Caroline H
Page 30 and 31: Seniors’ Studiesby Charlie Hruska
Page 32 and 33: Tim MorseHe became a role model, in
Page 34 and 35: Dido and Aeneas:CA’s OperaticPrem
Page 36 and 37: darkened room filled with the sound
Page 38 and 39: CONCORD ACADEMY MAGAZINE WINTER 200
Page 40: Unendowed:CA’s Early DecadesWhen
Page 43 and 44: ATHLETICSFALL HIGHLIGHTSThe boys so
Page 45: Jon CrispinALUMNAE/I CORNERAmong th
Page 49 and 50: personal conflicts. Parkman Howe, K
Page 51 and 52: A Planned Gift“To Keep Talented K

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