MARQUETTE -- Around 400 students from ten different U.P. high schools went to NMU to celebrate Spanish Day on Tuesday.

"The world is getting smaller. There's now over 40 million people who speak Spanish in the United States, so it would behoove people to learn some Spanish, and it may be useful in their futures," said NMU Modern Languages and Literatures Department Head, Timothy Compton.

Those who attended were second, third, or fourth year Spanish students. They spent the afternoon participating in Spanish-speaking competitions, performing songs and skits, and going around to different stations. The stations range from libraries to music stores. After a student visits a booth, an NMU volunteer stamps their "VISA."

Students can exchange their real money for pesos. After that, they can go around to all the different stations and spend it on anything that they'd like.

Even though the day was full of fun, students realized the practicality of the language.

"Communication. We have a lot of people who speak Spanish here in the United States. Not necessarily here in the U.P., but if you go to somewhere like Florida, where you have the majority of people that are already speaking Spanish, you really need to learn the language," said Marquette Senior High School student Jacob Ogeo.

If students are caught speaking English, they're put into "la prisión," or jail, until they are freed.