Category Archives: Language

excuses, excuses

Being a travel junkie, I spend a significant amount of time thinking and reading about traveling. I by no means think travel is everything, and I would encourage thoughtful and intentional travel whether you’re going on vacation or study abroad. I do think that traveling, whether to a new neighborhood, state, or country, is an incredible way to learn more about the world and yourself.

I found this article the other day on one of my favorite travel websites listing “10 excuses that shouldn’t keep you from studying abroad.” It’s a quick read that says neither money, time, or fomo (among other things) should stand in your way of studying abroad. Study abroad experiences can be anything from terribly unenjoyable to world-rockingly awesome, and sometimes can be a combination of both. It can be scary to embark on an adventure but my feeling is that you never know what you’re capable of until you try. Even if it’s difficult or scary to imagine leaving home, why deny yourself the opportunity to grow and learn in new ways? I always remind myself that sometimes my greatest learning has come from my most challenging experiences. And you never know how much fun you can have until you go!

Summer in Spain!

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When deciding what to do for my integrative experience, I knew I wanted to study abroad. I had no doubt about it. However, I didn’t believe it was possible for me based on how my courses are arranged. My only option was a summer program and Salamanca was the one for me. I had thought about it for a while, and it was the perfect fit. I could take courses that I actually needed at an affordable cost. I’m so glad I was wrong.

My big issue is that I also study music. It may not seem like it, but it takes up SO much time. I barely have any free weekends ever. I have to practice all the time. I mean, it’s a huge amount of work, but with it comes great satisfaction. But aside from the time my Voice Minor takes, the classes are offered in sequence. Every semester the courses are different and they must be taken in order. That being said, I could never take a semester off. There’s just no way. I’d be a full year behind instead of just one semester. And if I may say, college is not cheap at all. Continue reading →

The Journey as a Spanish Major

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During the midst of my last year of high school, like most students I was eager to get out. Graduating from high school seemed like such a big milestone at the time. I would finally be able to make the decision as to where I wanted to live, and where I wanted to study. I was one of those students who applied to ten or eleven different universities. I had my heart set on a few, but still applied to others just to see if I’d get in. Ironically enough, at this point in time UMASS was my ‘safety school.’ My top pick was the University of Vermont. I loved the very liberal atmosphere, and the education program was so well developed. After receiving my acceptance letter and going to an accepted students’ day, I determined that it would not be financially possible to attend there. Continue reading →

3 Pieces of Advice for Spanish Majors

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As I finish up the remaining weeks of my senior semester at UMass, I have taken time to reflect on my Spanish major. To reflect on what it has meant for me to be a second language learner and the interconnection between the world, communication and language learning. I have learned many things over the past 8 semesters and I want to share the three main points for students thinking about becoming a Spanish major, or who want to know what to expect the next few years of their lives. So I leave you with three important pieces to remember… Continue reading →

ELL And Beyond

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All through high school I worked as a peer tutor, first for students that were from the area and needed assistance in basic high school courses like history and math. These courses were not the main focus of my interests but I understood them well enough, as well as the basic way I myself understood them and how others could use my techniques to learn, and I felt that I could apply that in a manner that would benefit the peers I worked and studied with. As my interest in Spanish began to develop (French and Spanish were the only classes offered at my school and we were only allowed to take one or the other; any other languages I took were through a newly implemented online program, and I sampled a little of Chinese and Italian) a favorite Spanish teacher of mine that had noticed my aptitude for languages kept approaching me and asking me to tutor kids that were having a hard time in her Spanish classes. It was about eighth grade when I started working with a seventh grader who needed help specifically with his Spanish. Continue reading →

My Major and Me

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My Experience with the Spanish Major

As a freshman at UMass Amherst, I did not have plans of using Spanish as a big part of my life moving forward. I knew Spanish, with two grandparents from the Basque Country in the north of Spain and a number of aunts, uncles, and cousins still living there and keeping in touch, I had heard the language a lot growing up and had a sufficient enough grasp on it to take honors and AP classes throughout high school. It was a language that I like to pull out when around my friends, mostly white and middle class like me, to show off the fact that I was in some way more “cultured” than them, whatever that means. But my plans at UMass were not dependent on in, and certainly not my plans afterwards. I figured I could take classes, minor in it, and have it as a bonus on my resume, sure, but Political Science was really interested me, and whatever I could use that for later.

Sophomore year was when I actually switched my primary major to Spanish, and put Political Science as my secondary. Honestly, though, even at this point it wasn’t because I fully understood or appreciated the major for what it was, it was for reasons of convenience. Continue reading →

Why Spanish?

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“You’re a Spanish major. You must be fluent, right?”

I receive this question a lot nowadays, when I explain to loving family members or friends what my course of study at UMass has been. How I am a primary Spanish major. And how, no, contrary to popular belief, I am not fluent. Far from it.

There is something incredibly disheartening about admitting that to oneself. That no matter how much you have studied, or the time that you have poured into the major, or the number of literature reviews turned in, that you are simply not fluent and perhaps never will be. And what is profoundly strange about studying a language is that there are millions, hundreds of millions of people across the planet who are infinitely more skilled in the Spanish language because it is their heritage language—these skills they honed on the playgrounds and in school rooms and in thousands of bedtime stories con sus padres. By age 10, barely anyone knows about the realist theory of international relations or how to properly run gel electrophoresis—those things you learn when you study for a Political Science or Biology degree. But there are millions of ten year olds who can speak effortless Spanish, whose tongues don’t tap against their teeth in that oh-so-gringo way and who don’t mix up feminine and masculine pronouns of a score of household items. Continue reading →

Reflections on travel, study, and self

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I arrived in Valparaíso in July of 2012 for my third year of university. Within a month I was in love: new friends, new house, new city, I felt unbelievably lucky to have settled where and how I did. I feel powerfully influenced by the culture and people I met there; this is not to say that I now feel Chilean, but rather that I am more reflective and analytical about my assumed (American) culture, beliefs and practices. Acknowledging that self-reflection as an ongoing process, throughout my time in Chile and since returning I am recognizing in new ways the greater implications of growing up as a white female in Boston in the United States.

In Valpo I lived in a house with people of many different nationalities: Chilean, Spanish, French, German, Australian, Italian, American, and Canadian. There was constant intercultural interpretation and explanation in addition to the various language barriers. This was an enriching and exciting (and sometimes tiring) environment that allowed me to examine what it meant to me to be an American from the United States. Ongoing reflections on how I approach and interpret cross-cultural experiences, whether in a classroom, kitchen, or bar, or at student protest, has allowed me to better understand the particular influences in my life and how they are similar or different from those around me. Continue reading →

Reflecting on the reflection: a personal reaction to student experience and writing

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[My friend Nicholas Belardes encouraged me to reflect and write about my teaching experiences at UMass. My first post on this subject was inspired by the reflections of this year’s Integrative Experience students. I repost here what I wrote for the Nicholas Belardes site. As students’ understanding of themselves changes through experience, so does faculty’s; and as we ask students to reflect, so should we. Here is my own personal reflection.]

THE ASSIGNMENT WAS SIMPLE – a reflection about our seniors’ changing relationship with the Spanish major -, but it made for one of my best weeks as a teacher. Not necessarily because of my own classroom performance, but because of what the students’ writing revealed about their development. I spent a couple of days checking my computer every ten minutes, expecting to receive their texts. Continue reading →

Reflection/ Evolution of the Spanish Major

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When I first started applying to colleges I’d originally declared myself as a music major. But half way through the applications I stopped; something just didn’t feel right about it. As passionate as I was about singing and dancing, I felt that maybe I should embark on a path that was a bit more academically oriented. In my heart I knew that I would always be able to pursue my love for the performing arts on the side no matter what. And so, I dove into my freshman year head first as a declared Spanish Major. However, my perception of what that meant then and what it means now has transformed dramatically.

At 18 years old I was fresh out of high school. Quite frankly, I didn’t even want to be at UMASS to begin with, so needless to say I was somewhat of a miserable person. When people asked me ‘Why Spanish?’ I would say “because it’s the only other thing I’m good at.” I was more than bitter about not pursuing my musical aspirations and felt that I’d made a huge mistake. I even spent a great deal of time after first semester sophomore year considering switching my major over to vocal performance. I hit a wall that I never imagined I’d hit; I didn’t want anything to do with Spanish anymore. Continue reading →