Language Learning Experience

My language learning journey began quite early with my first French class in the 4^th grade and Spanish in 5^th. I continued with French until I exhausted the course offerings at my high school as a junior, so I re-visited Spanish as a senior and began a few years of “language hopping”. I took full advantage of my university’s thriving language programs to try my hand at courses in Japanese, Chinese, German, Arabic, Farsi, Amharic, and of course both French and Spanish.

As a junior I decided it was finally time to “buckle down” and committed to focusing on French. It was shortly after this that I took my first international trip to France, Belgium, and Switzerland, where I came to two vital realizations: 1) I really could do this and 2) French had become so entrenched in my heart and soul that it could no longer be fully separated from my personal identity. And from there, a language teacher was born.

Upon graduating, earning my French teaching license, and taking a few more trips to France in particular, I married into a Mexican family and began taking my Spanish more seriously. While I had unofficially taught basic Spanish for a few years at this point (as the first two units of an Introduction to World Languages course), I knew I was out of my depth. A few community college classes helped, but I mostly learned the language through Netflix, kid books, conversing with my in-laws, and a few trips to both Spain and Mexico. Inevitably, I began to feel that deep tug towards the language and culture along the way, so in early 2020, I earned my Spanish teaching license as well. I’m thrilled to now be working a job where I get to teach and support both of my linguistic loves at the same time!