Spanish & Illinois

by Ann Abbott Yesterday I gave a talk at the Law School here at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. It was for a meeting of the Immigration Law Society, a group of students interested in immigration law. I built the slides and the information on a talk I gave earlier this semester to the interpreters in the Champaign school district. Here are my slides: Interpreting: Language, Culture and Ethics by AnnAbbott If you would like for me to speak to your group about this, you can reach out to me at arabbott@illinois.edu or 217-333-6714. I was very interested in the student questions afterward. Some asked for more detail about ad hoc intepreting, but a lot of students were interested in knowing more about how to improve their language skills. For people who feel that their second language is rusty, I suggested doing a lot of listening and reading (input); then they can find opportunities to practice speaking. If you're watching movies or binging on Casa de Papel on...

Next year's conference will be in Salamanca, Spain. by Ann Abbott This year's annual conference of the American Association of Teacher of Spanish and Portuguese celebrated the 100th anniversary of our professional association. The inimitable and admirable Sheri Spaine Long invited me to participate on a plenary panel consisting of several people who had written essays or rejoinders for the centenary issue of Hispania that will come out in December of this year. It promises to be an expansive look at where we have come from and where we are going as a profession. I'd like to share below my presentation from the plenary. What do you think our challenges are as a profession? What do you think "Spanish" means today and for the future? Do you think that teaching Spanish in this political climate requires us to rethink anything we do? Or teaching it in this changing environment of higher ed? I'd love to hear your thoughts. ***********************...

by Christine Kurt Making SPAN 232 a strength of your CV It’s no secret that a second language is a monumental asset to any CV or resume; however, with growing numbers of students learning second languages, how does one stand out from the pack? The unique aspect of SPAN 232 was the balance of in class “technical” skills and community-based, primary experience. On one of the last few days of class, our discussion section complied some ideas of how to translate these experiences (both in and out of class) onto a CV. We separated the chalkboard into both professional and personal areas. Here are some key-points discussed in class: 1. Computer program skills I would be lying if I said I had even thought of spreadsheets before my community volunteering- my Excel experience was limited to a computer class I took freshman year of high school. However, volunteering in the Child Care Resource Center allowed me to conjure up my knowledge of computer programs I hadn’t used since hi...

by Kelsey Marquez One Day  Sadness. Sadness is what I felt when I saw their innocent faces go from excited to disappointed. I will never forget the second time I went to volunteer at Garden Hills. When I walked into the nearly empty classroom, I came across an unfamiliar face. The stranger quickly introduced herself and said that she was the substitute teacher for the day and that the kids were still at Library. Within about five minutes, we went to pick up the children from Library and took them to get their vision tested. Up until that point, everything was pretty normal and going as usual. But soon that would change. The substitute teacher was an elderly Caucasian woman who didn’t speak a word of Spanish. For most classes, this would not be a problem, but this class is a bilingual kindergarten class. What does that mean? It means that the children are being taught in Spanish and know very little or no English at all. As we waited for the children to get tested, th...

by Nicole Mathes The Garden Hills Community Pyramid In class, we have been focusing on businesses and components that are essential to the success of those businesses. For the longest time, I have (mistakenly) thought that schools are NOT businesses—they do not sell or advertise goods and services, their main goal is different than striving to increase profits, and they do not have clients. However, after one particular day volunteering at Garden Hills Elementary School, I realized that schools are businesses or, at the very least, have similar systems that make up the overall pyramid of the corporation. On this particular day, we had a substitute teacher in our class. In fact, ALL of the third grade teachers were at a conference that day, so there were substitute teachers for every single third grade classroom in the school. Substitute teachers are great, but they have a difficult job to perform. They have to hold the respect and attention of the students, maintain a po...

What would you do if you couldn't talk to you children's teacher? by Ann Abbott Parent-Teacher conferences are a crucial opportunity for families to communicate with the teachers and make concrete plans for their children's academic success. As a parent myself, I sometimes think of parent-teacher conferences as a way for us to influence how the teachers see and interact with our children: they know that behind each of children are two parents who are interested in their children's success, engaged in supporting their success at home, respectful of the teachers' work, and committed to advocating for our children. Imagine if you couldn't talk to your kids' teachers because you didn't speak the same language. What information about your child would you miss out on? What consequences might that have for your child? How might you be judged as a parent? Each semester, several of my students help at Central High School's parent-teacher co...

My students' thank-you notes, ready to send to our community partners. by Ann Abbott I recently read this article about the importance of writing a follow-up note after a job interview .  Basically, the conclusion is that if you do not send a thank you message, you will not get the job. I'm happy to say that my Spanish community service learning (CSL) textbook, Comunidades: Más allá del aula , includes an activity in the very last Lección that requires students to write a thank you note to their supervisors in the community. There are specific instructions about what information to include, because I found over the years that students did not always know what made a compelling note. They need to include specific details to support an over-arching statement of what they have learned by working at the organization. Not only is this professionally important, it is also culturally important.  I always tell students that in most contexts in Hispanic cultures, it i...