To strengthen cultural diversity and global education, West Visayas State University-Center for Teaching Excellence (WVSU-CTE) officially launched its first Multilingual Compendium at CTE Main Hall on July 15, 2025.
With the theme, “Education Without Borders: A Global Exchange of Basque and Filipino Insights” and “Bridging Cultures: Presentation of the Multilingual Compendium,” the event aimed to foster international collaboration by connecting diverse communities through education.
“Here in West Visayas State University, our pursuit of internalization is not merely about exchanging knowledge or gaining global prestige. It is driven by a deeper purpose to discover ourselves through fresh and different ties, to see what we have become and what we might get to be. It is about expanding perspectives to understand not only others but our place in this world,” said Dr. Joselito Villaruz, WVSU president.
The project was led by WVSU-CTE under the supervision of the CTE Director, Dr. Antoniette Cortez, in partnership with two Spanish interns, Mertxe Mendibe Lazaro and Maria Pilar Arraiz Torre, who stayed in the university for six months, conducting research, joining community immersions, and developing a multilingual compendium.
“I think in a globalized world, it is important to have this multilingual compendium to build bridges between different cultures, so we can communicate and get close with each other,” said Lazaro emphasizing the significance of the project.
“Aside from having the difficulty in translating the things that don’t exist in our language, it would be working online. I like meeting new people and maybe it would have been better to meet them in person, work alongside [them], and get to know them. Maybe it would be productive and enriching,” said Torre.
Assisting the project were fourth year Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English students and third year Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED) students, who helped the interns with translation and layouting.
“It is overwhelming and satisfying that what I created will be a part of a big project, helping the users to easily understand the content of the compendium,” said Yoj Chiva, BEED student and the illustrator of the compendium.
The multilingual compendium is a collection of different categories such as Alphabet, numbers, plants, fruits, basic greetings, songs, etc, — presented in five languages: Basque, Spanish, Hiligaynon, Filipino, and English.
The project highlights WVSU-CTE’s goal of advancing education and promoting linguistic diversity and global citizenship across the classrooms. Copies will be made available online and will be announced through the WVSU-CTE page.
By Yehlette B. Martin/SILAK MEDIA
