Category Archives: Language

Communication Disorders + Spanish

My name is Christine Brennick, and I am currently a junior here at UMass. I am double majoring in Communication Disorders and Spanish. While these are two completely different fields, they are both related through language. My classes in communication disorders and Spanish are very different and at times I feel as though they are totally separate pursuits. However, I plan to take a few classes that link the two together including Hispanic Linguistics and Spanish Phonetics, two classes that I had to take in English for communication disorders. While these two majors do not complement each other as clearly as some other combinations, I know that pairing the two will be complementary for my career. Continue reading →

Career Decisions, Being Multilingual, and the Spanish Major

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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

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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.

Continue reading →

Teaching Spanish as a World Language

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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 →

Bilingual Educator

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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 →

Mi Intercambio, Paula

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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 →

How studying Spanish helped prepare me for a career in the fire service

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Royal Collin Gardner graduated from our program in 2016. We are happy that he has contacted us to let us know how his preparation in our program helped him to become a better firefighter.

I’ve taken a pretty unconventional career path for a Spanish major: I’m pursuing a career as a firefighter. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from UMass last May, I enrolled in a firefighter training course at Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, Kentucky. I’ve been travelling all over the country testing and interviewing for various Fire Departments. When I mention my major in relation to my career path, or vice versa, I’ll often get a confused response. It seems counter-intuitive: most Spanish majors tend to gravitate towards careers in education, interpreting, or international business, while the average college-educated fire candidate usually majors in Fire Science or Emergency Management. However, I believe that studying Spanish in college has taught me some valuable lessons that I will take with me throughout my career in the fire service.

Continue reading →

Decisions as a transfer student

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Coming to UMass as a Jr Year transfer left me with a lot to figure out in an extremely short period of time. My first problem came when I noticed I would have to take on a much heavier course load to ensure that I would graduate on time. A course load that when paired up with having a job didn’t leave me with much time for anything else and in an attempt to avoid any complications, I eliminated the possibility of studying abroad. Depending on where you transfer from, all your classes might not meet UMass’ requirements and you may feel rushed and pressured to cram as many classes as possible into each semester to graduate on time. This was my biggest mistake, fortunately I was able to notice and make a change but some advice that I would like to give is to not put too much focus on the time you’re spending here because the experiences that comes with it are like none you’ll find anywhere else. Continue reading →

How Spanish became more than a skill on my resume

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When I applied to UMass Amherst I was solely interested in Isenberg School of Management. I have always had a strong interest in majoring in business, however, when I was rejected by Isenberg my interests needed to shift. I chose to major in Spanish because I had always wanted to minor in it and I thought to myself, “why not?”. My parents encouraged me that being bilingual appealed to employers regardless of the job.

I enrolled in multiple Spanish classes and seminars, following the major core list provided to my on my spire, not with much interest, but because I had to. I participated in group activities in class, occasionally raised my hands to answer questions, and dreaded those oral exams. I basically was going through the motions in each class until Spanish 394. Spanish 394 actually caught my interest, Continue reading →

Latin culture in our backyard

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My experience of being immersed in a Spanish speaking culture with native Spanish speakers happened right here in Massachusetts and this experience influenced not only my choice of a major but also what I want to do with the rest of my life. Many language learners believe the time spent in the classroom or studying is most important but the most valuable time but for me, the time spent interacting with natives and getting a first-hand understanding and experience of their culture was the most rewarding. It is also really rewarding/motivational to be able to immediately use the things you have learned in real world situations to help others. Continue reading →