Small Touches Have Big Impact When Promoting Your Language Programs

Creating eye-catching informational displays is very important.
by Ann Abbott

 I am so happy about everything that I am learning from my friends and colleagues in the less commonly taught languages. Today they showed me the power of creating displays that capture students' attention.

As I walked through the lobby of our Foreign Languages Building earlier today, I saw tables set up with lots of flyers, suckers, chocolates and signs that said things like: "Take a flyer, take a piece of candy." There were at least 100 pieces of candy lying on the tables. The flyers were colorful, arranged in neat stacks, displayed at curious angles and skirted the entire table. There was no one manning the booth at the time, but the table was so intriguing that I wanted to go look at their information, even though I am not a student.

Later in the day when I passed by, Mithilesh Mishra who teaches Hindi was behind the booth, talking to many students who were surrounding the booth. The pictures here don't capture the number of students who were there, and only about half of the candy is still sitting on the table.

The display worked! Mithilesh and others were promoting their winter study-abroad courses, and they got a lot of student interest.
What could you do in the lobby of your building to capture students' attention? How can you promote your programs in very visible ways? What is eye-catching in person and what is eye-catching on-line?

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