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I love languages. I love the way we pack meaning into sounds, how each generation recreates and rediscovers slang, and how all languages actively pickpocket each other. I love the rushing, escalating feeling upon first beginning to learn a new language. As a teaching assistant in Spain, I strive to share this love of language with my students; I want to help them get beyond survival English to see the beauty in the language.
My work as an English-language teaching assistant in the towns of Santanyí and S’Alquería Blanca in Mallorca, Spain is incredibly rewarding. However, in my current position, I am learning how to teach by the “sink-or-swim” method. I have been able to observe the teaching styles of seven different teachers, and it is evident which are the most effective: a good teacher is patient, creative, understanding of students’ needs, goals, and current linguistic levels, and is able to create an environment conducive to learning. I feel that I have the qualities to become a good teacher, but I lack formal training. I believe Portland State’s MA TESOL program will give me the foundation and tools that I need to be an effective ESL teacher.
I am attracted to Portland State’s program because it will fulfill my thirst to study the intricate inner workings of English, to study theoretical and historical linguistics, to learn how we learn, and, most importantly, to learn how to teach. Also, I love Portland’s diversity and progressivity: I want to work and learn with people from varied cultural backgrounds. Janet Cowal’s TESOL Community Activism class is especially appealing; I hope to take advantage of my time in Portland by participating in community-outreach programs. I also look forward to student teaching and developing my own curriculum through the Community ESL Practicum. In order to have more hands-on classroom experience, I would like to be considered for an ESL Teaching Assistant position. I believe eight months as an ESL Teaching Assistant in Spain, as well as teaching college-level Spanish classes for one week while filling in for Prof. Violeta Ramsay, will help me succeed as an ESL TA at Portland State.
My only teaching and tutoring experience to date has been with Latinos and people whose first or second language is Spanish (my current students on Mallorca speak Spanish as a second language. Their first language is Mallorquín, a dialect of Catalan—a language I am beginning to learn). I know that the techniques I will learn at Portland State will be applicable to teaching native speakers of any language, and although I want to focus on the Hispanic community, I hope to work with many culture groups.
The opportunity to interact with the Hispanic community in Oregon and Wyoming has motivated me to continue to work with Latinos living in the US. When I first arrived at Linfield, getting to meet and make friends with the visiting international students and becoming involved in the Hispanic community were wonderfully broadening experiences. In the community of McMinnville, I taught adult education classes in order to hear people’s stories (if they were a first- or second-generation immigrant, if they had a steady job or were migrant workers, what their experience as a marginalized minority was like, what I could do to make a difference). During the summer following my graduation, I worked as an interpreter/naturalist in Grand Teton National Park, developing ranger programs, leading guided hikes, and teaching visitors about the natural and cultural resources in Grand Teton. As a Spanish speaker, I was able to help develop and lead special “Latino Family Day” programs. The excitement of the families on their first visit to Grand Teton was contagious. We gave programs in Spanish, but my dream is to lead community adult-education English classes for those families and others, to help them master English in order to more fully and independently enjoy and understand places such as Grand Teton and Yellowstone. I want to use my experience from living abroad in Ecuador, Germany, and Spain, to help non-English speakers, especially Latinos, to succeed while living in the US. I want to continue to grow as a person by learning about their cultures and learning from them. I want to teach.
I love languages. I love the way we pack meaning into sounds, how each generation recreates and rediscovers slang, and how all languages actively pickpocket each other. I love the rushing, escalating feeling upon first beginning to learn a new language. As a teaching assistant in Spain, I strive to share this love of language with my students; I want to help them get beyond survival English to see the beauty in the language.
My work as an English-language teaching assistant in the towns of Santanyí and S’Alquería Blanca in Mallorca, Spain is incredibly rewarding. However, in my current position, I am learning how to teach by the “sink-or-swim” method. I have been able to observe the teaching styles of seven different teachers, and it is evident which are the most effective: a good teacher is patient, creative, understanding of students’ needs, goals, and current linguistic levels, and is able to create an environment conducive to learning. I feel that I have the qualities to become a good teacher, but I lack formal training. I believe Portland State’s MA TESOL program will give me the foundation and tools that I need to be an effective ESL teacher.
I am attracted to Portland State’s program because it will fulfill my thirst to study the intricate inner workings of English, to study theoretical and historical linguistics, to learn how we learn, and, most importantly, to learn how to teach. Also, I love Portland’s diversity and progressivity: I want to work and learn with people from varied cultural backgrounds. Janet Cowal’s TESOL Community Activism class is especially appealing; I hope to take advantage of my time in Portland by participating in community-outreach programs. I also look forward to student teaching and developing my own curriculum through the Community ESL Practicum. In order to have more hands-on classroom experience, I would like to be considered for an ESL Teaching Assistant position. I believe eight months as an ESL Teaching Assistant in Spain, as well as teaching college-level Spanish classes for one week while filling in for Prof. Violeta Ramsay, will help me succeed as an ESL TA at Portland State.
My only teaching and tutoring experience to date has been with Latinos and people whose first or second language is Spanish (my current students on Mallorca speak Spanish as a second language. Their first language is Mallorquín, a dialect of Catalan—a language I am beginning to learn). I know that the techniques I will learn at Portland State will be applicable to teaching native speakers of any language, and although I want to focus on the Hispanic community, I hope to work with many culture groups.
The opportunity to interact with the Hispanic community in Oregon and Wyoming has motivated me to continue to work with Latinos living in the US. When I first arrived at Linfield, getting to meet and make friends with the visiting international students and becoming involved in the Hispanic community were wonderfully broadening experiences. In the community of McMinnville, I taught adult education classes in order to hear people’s stories (if they were a first- or second-generation immigrant, if they had a steady job or were migrant workers, what their experience as a marginalized minority was like, what I could do to make a difference). During the summer following my graduation, I worked as an interpreter/naturalist in Grand Teton National Park, developing ranger programs, leading guided hikes, and teaching visitors about the natural and cultural resources in Grand Teton. As a Spanish speaker, I was able to help develop and lead special “Latino Family Day” programs. The excitement of the families on their first visit to Grand Teton was contagious. We gave programs in Spanish, but my dream is to lead community adult-education English classes for those families and others, to help them master English in order to more fully and independently enjoy and understand places such as Grand Teton and Yellowstone. I want to use my experience from living abroad in Ecuador, Germany, and Spain, to help non-English speakers, especially Latinos, to succeed while living in the US. I want to continue to grow as a person by learning about their cultures and learning from them. I want to teach.
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