Education:

• B.A. in Latin American Studies, Boston University

• M.A. in Spanish, Portland State University

Culture is the body, and language is its breath. Experiences traveling, teaching, and living abroad in a variety of places (Japan, Spain, and Venezuela, particularly), have taught me that it is through the circulation of language that culture remains vital; and working with an array of students—from preschoolers to bankers, and retirees to migrant farmworkers—has diversified my understandings of how a language can be acquired. The constants I have found about learning are these: we learn when we play, we feel ownership when we create, and we are willing to commit when we make a real connection.

When Spanish and teaching aren’t on the brain, I enjoy being in the company of my husband, two children, and our small flock of fur-bearing friends (two dogs and two cats), watching international films, reading, taking a dance class, or going for a long walk.