Language is no barrier for the students and faculty at City College.

The Language Day Festival took place on March 14 at Gorton Quad.

Students from different cultural backgrounds enjoyed a day filled with good food, catchy music and culture from all over the world.

“This event brings a great opportunity to all our language students to come together as one soul and celebrate the richness of our cultures,” said Rosalinda Sandoval, a Spanish professor and coordinator of the event.

Promoting the language and world cultures programs was the main purpose of hosting this event.

The study abroad program had a booth located at the festival and students had the opportunity to sign up to visit Buenos Aires, Argentina this fall.

The Spanish club set up a table entirely dedicated to playing “Loteria,” a Spanish variant of bingo and had many prizes to offer to the winners. They also displayed an interesting collection of dolls, each of which represented the different states and people of Mexico.

Members of the Spanish club performed a lively version of the song “Cielito Lindo” which was awarded with applause from the crowd. They made sure to keep the musical vibe going by dancing to “Caballo Dorado” and inviting everyone to join in from the beginning of the event to the very end.

The Italian club was on hand to share a taste of Italy, encouraging others to try out different Italian breads.

“It was pretty cool. What made today unique is that we were able to be with a lot of other cultures at the same time,” said Daniel Morales, a student from the Italian club. Morales also performed in a small skit speaking entirely in Italian alongside Sarah Alami and Talina Bajis.

The French club was not left behind, especially when it came to a performance by Joseph M. Stewart who played the accordion.

Free face painting was offered at the event thanks to the skills of Yolanda Arceo, a City College student who has been working as a freelance make-up artist for the last three years.

La Casita Mexican Restaurant was on hand to cook various traditional Mexican dishes.

The Arabic club was a large presence at the at the festival.

“It is very important to introduce culture and get students together and to show them to be proud of where they come from,” said Professor Yousra Kh. Qudeimat, the advisor of the Arabic club this semester.

Through the use of a mixture of dance, music and even a fashion show, the Arabic club was able to share their stories and convey a sense of acceptance towards other cultures as well.

Overall, the turn out at the Language Day festival was a success.

The language department is currently offering German, Italian, French, Spanish, Arabic, Italian and AMSL classes.