I would like to eventually become an English teacher for speakers of other languages. At UMass I study Spanish as well as linguistics, and am in the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program. The program is a 15 credit mix of linguistics and language literacy and culture (LLC) classes that lead to certification in TESOL. The certification can be used to teach English both in the United States and abroad, and knowing Spanish could open many doors for me in a variety of places in the world. I hope to teach in Latin America, and knowing Spanish will help me understand better the people I want to work with one day and assimilate myself into the culture. Learning Spanish has helped me understand the similarities and differences between Spanish and English, and linguistics has helped me understand language in general, which will ultimately make me a better teacher. If one day I decide to teach domestically in the U.S, knowing Spanish will be useful because of the large population of Spanish-speakers in this country. Also by learning Spanish and Linguistics, I am able to understand how people acquire new languages, and I have first-hand experience and knowledge about the experience of learning a second language.