The language departments gathered together on Friday, April 22 to fight it out on the field for the title of Battle of the Languages Champion. The Westwood tradition continued on this year, with the previous year’s winner, the French team, taking home third with a huge defeat. The Spanish team brought home the victory after a four year period of defeat, with a final score of 3-0.

The Battle of the Languages has taken place every year since 2006, with the language departments coming together to play a friendly game of soccer. The winning team would take home the Battle of the Languages Champion trophy, until the next year, where they would defend their title against the other teams.

In previous years, all six language departments have participated in the Battle of the Languages. However, this year the Chinese, Latin, and ASL (American Sign Language) clubs were not able to attend.

The first teams to face off were the French and Spanish teams. Each game was ten minutes long, with a three minute half-time in between. By half-time, French was in the lead with 1-0, and kept up their defense throughout the remainder of the qualifying game, ending with 1-0.

Afterwards, the French team went up against the German team. The German team put up a score of 1-0 by the end of the round. Almost immediately after, the Spanish team returned to the field for a game that would determine which teams would advance to finals.

The Spanish team worked hard, showing their determination to make the final rounds by scoring twice by half-time, ending the game with a score of 2-0. Both the German and Spanish team moved on to the final rounds, with Spanish scoring the highest number of goals, and the German team defeating the French in their qualifying rounds.

By the time final rounds came, the German team had already played two games in a row. Their fatigue was evident — at half time, the Spanish had scored two goals, and by the end of the game, the score was 3-0.

“It feels great after four years to have the trophy back on my bookshelf,” said Sra. Llanos-Gremillion, leader of the winning team. “Now we just have to maintain our championship status.”

By participating in the Battle of the Languages, students had the chance to interact with their peers from the other language departments.

“I wanted to represent French club, because it was a time for all the language departments to come together and form a community,” Kelsia Adil ‘19 said. “I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself.”

There was a wide range of players as well, with some students having never stepped foot on the field before, and others with years of experience under their belt.

“It’s awesome to be on the winning team,” Natasha Paul ‘17 said. “I play soccer in school, but it’s fun to come out and play with other people too.”

The Battle of the Languages served as a way for teams to promote unity within their organizations, while the groups used cheers in their language to encourage their players.

“Last year, the French club teamed up with NFHS and we won, so we wanted to show French pride,” Aldrian Widjaja ‘18 said. “I think it really brings awareness to French, and brings the club together as a whole.”

With the yearly activity, students from different language departments were able to get together and have some friendly competition.

“It’s just to show between the languages,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said. “It’s a good way to come out and get rid of some energy in a way that is still healthy.”