Author Archives: eahopkin

Teaching Spanish is not easy – but it’s worth it!

Spanish is not easy. There’s so much involved in learning a language that I completely forgot about. By the time you’re a senior and at the end of the Spanish major, you’re not really focusing so much on the tedious, grammar things – it’s all big-picture, comprehension-level stuff. I completely forgot about learning things like the stem of a verb and different endings; trying to wrap my head around subject agreement.

The reason I mention this is because I am in the Spanish STEP (secondary teacher education) program, working on getting my license to teach Spanish in high school. I’m currently doing my pre-practicum with a Spanish 1 class at Northampton High School. Continue reading

Readjusting to life back home

In the Spring of 2014 I studied abroad in Granada, Spain. Like everyone will tell you, studying abroad was the best decision I could’ve made. I made new friends, had an amazing opportunity to interact with the culture, and eat the most amazing food – but I’m sure by now you’ve head all of that a million times over. So I want to talk about my experience returning from Spain; because that’s something that a lot of people don’t want to talk about because it’s honestly not always pleasant.

Now to preface, I have to say again that Granada was the most amazing experience. I learned so much not only about the Spanish language and culture, but about myself. Continue reading

Why I Love Spanish 497SX

For me, one of the most influential Spanish classes that I have taken is probably Spanish 497SX: Spanish Syntax. I am currently in the class with Carole Cloutier. One of the reasons I love this class so much is because Carole is so passionate about what she’s teaching. I’ve taken two other classes with her and she inspires so much interest in the subject matter. She makes everything very clear and always listens to us, as students. Because of this, I decided to take 497SX with her this semester. Continue reading