How Sra. Rabassa Keeps Spanish Alive

To many, Spanish is a set of conjugations and vocabulary words from a textbook. To Pilar Rabassa’s students, it's a key to a wider world. Over the last 32 years that Rabassa has been teaching at Greenwich High School, she’s turned a regular curriculum into a cultural preservation. She ensures that for the next generation of students, Spanish isn’t just something they learned, but instead something they take on with them after their journey at GHS ends. 

In  Rabassa’s teaching, Spanish isn’t just straight learning; instead, it is about the combination of fun activities and active learning to enhance the education of her students. While some GHS courses rely on the traditional route of learning through textbooks or long slideshow presentations, Ms. Rabassa’s approach is a distinct departure from the norm. For students, it is rare to find a teacher that enhances learning to fit the scope of a teenager, and still make it educational.  She allows students to not only independently study but also collaborate as a group and then as a whole class. By doing so, she creates a safe space for all her students to explore Spanish.

Rabassa says that she tries to “use music, visuals, storytelling, and real-life situations so Spanish feels alive, not like a textbook subject.” Her favorite topic to teach about is everyday life and identity in the Spanish speaking world. In her classes Spanish 1 and Honors Spanish 6, students examine the 21 Spanish speaking countries in the world.  Rabassa found it “impossible to avoid teaching the language without a cultural component,” demonstrating her going beyond the curriculum to incorporate culture into Spanish learning.

She also shows her classes Gran Hotel, “a [Spanish] time period piece that takes place in the early 20th century - it is a mystery, so students stay engaged and are invested in finding out what happens.” Through her fun and engaging teaching, it is the best way for students to practice language skills and to see culture alive.

Rabassa finds it essential to highlight that culture isn’t distant but instead “human and relatable.” Learning Spanish culture alongside the language allows her students to “build respect, empathy, and global awareness, and it allows [them] to feel seen and valued. It also helps students understand different perspectives and challenge stereotypes.” She connects the history and culture they learn in class to her personal stories, films, and short readings, granting her students the ability to not only learn but visualize the learning.

It is important to Rabassa that after students graduate GHS, they carry their knowledge of the Spanish language with them. She recommends that the best way to keep Spanish alive is to continue speaking and practicing it. Students can listen to music, watch films, travel to one of the many 21 Spanish-speaking countries, or engage in the community. 

 Rabassa’s teaching proves that language is more than just a subject; it’s the way we actually connect with the world. Her vision of learning Spanish shapes students and her strategies of adapting culture, communication, and more into class should be used in all World Language classes at GHS. By focusing on real-world connections rather than just grammar and vocabulary, any language, whether it’s French, Italian, ASL, German, or Chinese, becomes a skill students actually keep for life instead of a credit they leave behind at graduation.

By blending fun, culture, and active collaboration, Rabassa ensures that Spanish is never just a textbook subject, but a living experience. Her dedication to showing that culture is relatable empowers her students to move forward with a broader perspective of the world. As they leave GHS, they don’t just carry a grade; they carry a lifelong connection to the Spanish-speaking world and the tools to keep that culture in their own lives.