............................   Related story: It's a Small World (College) ............................

What in the World is CFLAC? Smith's Center for Foreign Languages and Cultures (CFLAC) has got it all together when it comes to the study of other languages and other cultures. CFLAC is a state-of-the-art facility that houses a network of student workstations with integrated computer, audio and video components for the study of foreign languages, literatures and cultures. It enables students to explore a foreign culture with the aid of interactive videodiscs and tapes, digitized video and audio, and computer-assisted language and learning programs. The center also supports an audiotape library of cassettes for more than 30 courses. Other services include foreign-language word processing, on-line exercies and support for faculty foreign language multimedia projects. Robert Davis, director of CFLAC, was recently asked what he and the center's staff thought people should know about the center. Among their responses, some serious, some playful: We have more than 200 feature films in 11 different languages. We've created more than 50 percent of the multimedia applications we run. Our fast Ethernet network can support simultaneous access to digital video at multiple work stations. We've created three CD-ROMs and are working on a fourth. We have dictionaries (in both on-line and book formats) in 11 languages. The annual CFLAC winter celebration is one of the best-kept party secrets at Smith. Where else on campus can you get live music, the latest in digital technology and international cuisine all in one place? All of our staff members are avid badminton players. Anna Fessenden, our former project/user-services coordinator, is now in charge of all computer training at the Yankee Candle Company but will still play with her band at the annual winter festival. You can surf the Web in foreign languages at CFLAC. Armchair traveling: At CFLAC, students may surf the Web, explore other countries and test their mettle in a variety of foreign languages--all from the comfort of a workstation.

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