Monthly Archives: December 2017

Career Decisions, Being Multilingual, and the Spanish Major

What is it like to be multilingual? Languages have always been a passion of mine since the time I was a child. I am a native speaker of Greek, and being a native speaker of Greek has helped me cognitively to pick up the Spanish language. I started taking Spanish in 7th grade, and continued to take Spanish courses all throughout my years of secondary education. When I first started taking Spanish in the 7th grade, I was able to pick up on it easily because being a native speaker of Greek helped me to in addition to remembering a few Spanish words from the TV shows that I used to watch when I was a child, such as Sesame Street. After I graduated high school, I started college at Middlesex Community College where I had the opportunity to take Spanish courses. However, at the community college there was no such thing as a Spanish major. I did continue to take Spanish courses at Middlesex, and I knew that I always wanted to pursue a career where I got the opportunity to use Spanish, but I was not sure exactly what I wanted to do back then. At one time, I was doing some research on careers where Spanish is often used, such as a translator, interpreter, or even a teacher. In the beginning, I thought that I wanted to be an interpreter, Continue reading

Language-Learning without leaving the US

I transferred to UMASS in Fall 2017 from a community college. Coming in as a Junior, it has been stressful trying to make the most out of my UMASS experience and making use of everything the university has to offer. I spent most of my first semester feeling overwhelmed with prospects of studying abroad, service-learning and internships. Even deciding to have Spanish be my only major was a drawn-out internal struggle. At the beginning of the semester I questioned how much I was getting out of being a Spanish major. It seemed to me that most courses focused more on the culture of Spain, and I have more interest in learning about Latin American Culture. I’m from the Pioneer Valley originally so a lot of my interest in Spanish came from my connections with the Latinx population in the area, much of which is Puerto Rican. I want to do Social Work after I graduate so I spent a lot of time exploring the BDIC program (Bachelors Degree with Individual Concentration) with the hopes that I could take classes in departments that would benefit my career goals. I met with multiple advisors, making sure to advocate for myself and make connections with faculty – which is something I believe is extremely important for all students to do. I had even applied and been accepted to the BDIC program and planned to incorporate Spanish and Latino Studies classes with Psychology and Sociology classes. 

When the time came to register for Spring classes, I found myself still drawn to many Spanish classes.

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Teaching Spanish as a World Language

For this blog post, I will talk about how the Secondary Teacher Education Preparation (STEP) Program for Spanish works. I talk about my own experience with the program and also offer some tips for making the most out of it.

When I first entered UMass, I knew I wanted to teach Spanish, but I had a hard time finding the resources to get information about the Secondary Teacher Education Preparation (STEP) Program for undergraduates. On the College of Education website, most of the STEP material is geared toward graduate students, even though, with careful planning, undergraduates can also leave UMass with an initial licensure to teach in disciplines such as mathematics, biology, Spanish, English, and many more. My first step was getting in contact with the Spanish program director in charge of the licensure, in this case, Carole Cloutier. Continue reading

Other Ways to Volunteer Using Spanish and the Opportunities for Being a Spanish Major

You do not necessarily have to go abroad to practice speaking Spanish. Although, going abroad will help in many ways to practice speaking Spanish. Many can practice Spanish through the use of doing community service volunteering. I was doing some research on that, and I found an organization where there is an opportunity to volunteer in addition to practice speaking Spanish as well as teaching Spanish to others. This organization is called the Spanish American Center in Leominster, MA where there is alot of community service volunteering that happens every year with this organization. Continue reading

Advice Every Student Studying Abroad Should Hear

Studying abroad in Spain has been a dream of mine for many years now. I have always envisioned myself studying abroad, however, I was not quite sure what the process of getting there would entail.  Now that I am a Spanish major here at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I have chosen to study abroad next semester in Madrid. Choosing a city, completing the applications, and meeting deadlines was a very overwhelming and stressful time period for me this past semester. I would like to share my process with anyone who is considering studying abroad, in hopes that my advice may help to ease and simplify their process.

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A Student Athlete’s Study-Abroad Experience in Costa Rica

I, like most other Spanish majors, had always dreamed about the opportunity to study abroad. However, as a three sport athlete on the cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field teams here at UMass, studying abroad during the academic school year was simply not an option for me.

So, I set my sights on going abroad during the summer. I wouldn’t let myself miss out on the study abroad experience, as I knew it was an important step in my quest to becoming fluent in Spanish. And beyond language fluency, I also saw the priceless value of having the opportunity to delve into the culture of a Spanish-speaking community, live with a host family, and go outside my comfort zone to experience life outside of the United States.

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¡Sí se Puede! Student-Athletes CAN (and should) Go Abroad

I spent this past summer in San Ramón Costa Rica running up and down mountains, taking classes at the local university, and interning at the hospital. This is surely an experience I would not want anyone to miss out on just because of the confusion surrounding athletes going abroad. Hopefully, this post will address and ease some of your concerns and inspire you to embark on the best adventure of your college career. Continue reading

Bilingual Educator

My name is Alexander Ayala-Palacin and I am recent graduate of UMass with my Bachelors in Spanish and Certificates in Interpreting Studies, Medical Spanish Interpreting, and Spanish and Health. With this resume many would assume I am on my way to be a medical interpreter. I felt the same way until I received an email from Career Services that changed everything. 

Much of the responsibilities of this position was things I had experience from a job as an After School Counselor in a Elementary School, so I felt confident of my ability to perform the work, and it seemed something that I could realistically do, a first step after graduating. Otherwise I had no idea what I wanted to do after graduating. Continue reading

Confessions of a College Senior: What I Wish I Had Done

As I look back on my last four years here at UMass, I have a few regrets.

My first regret is not choosing the Spanish major in the first place. As a Senior in high school, I said I wanted to study Spanish and become a teacher. As a freshman in college, I chose to be a Biochemistry major. “Why?” you ask, well I didn’t think Spanish teachers made as much money as Physician’s Assistants did. I didn’t realize that choosing my passion over money would make me happier until after three semesters of stress and bad grades. Continue reading

Mi Intercambio, Paula

Before heading to Alicante, Spain for a semester, I had been advised by a few classmates and friends that I needed to sign up for un intercambio, or a language partner, while abroad. They all told me that it was the best way to meet locals, especially when going abroad with many other Americans through a third party study abroad program. When my advisors in Alicante announced that we should go to their office to sign up for un intercambio, I went straight to them and put my name on the list. I requested a young woman my age. Shortly thereafter, I was assigned Paula. Continue reading