This memorandum provides information regarding the largest professional meeting of second language educators in the United States to be held November 16-18,2001, in Washington, D.C.

This conference is a professional forum for all languages and all levels of instruction. It provides a broad selection of sessions, special interest groups, and pre- and post-conference workshops on topics that are at the cutting edge of foreign language education today. The conference theme is "A Professional Odyssey: Exploring New Spaces."

The conference is jointly sponsored by the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and several other language-specific organizations, including the Foreign Language Association of Virginia (FLAVA). It is the only national conference in the continental United States for speakers of Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and other languages.

School divisions may want to consider sending several educators to this national conference since it is occurring nearby this year. You may obtain further information on the conference at: www.actfl.org or direct specific questions to ACTFL by leaving a telephone message at 914-963-8830, ext. 235.

If you have further questions, please contact Faye Rollings-Carter (mailto:frolling@pen.k12.va.us), associate director of foreign languages and ESL at(804)225-2593.

JLD/FRC/frc