Vicente conquers Spanish

The school year has brought fresh, new teachers to campus. Wingspan recently sat down with one of the new Spanish teachers, Marcela Vicente, who is eager to teach students everything they need to know about her primary language.

Wingspan: How long have you been a teacher?

Vicente: “For two years.”

Wingspan: What do you think is the hardest part about being a teacher?

Vicente: “I think it’s trying to get to all of the students.”

Wingspan: What are your daily rituals that you do in order to prepare for class?

Vicente: “I always try to arrive always early and I try to review my lesson plans and try to see if I have all of the copies and have everything that I need to prepare for class.”

Wingspan: Have you taught other subjects besides Spanish?

Vicente: “No, just Spanish.”

Wingspan: In your personal opinion, do you think students should try and get into language classes?

Vicente: “Yes, I think learning new languages is very important, especially Spanish because here you have students that can speak Spanish. I think it is a good way for you to get more things in the future because you will need Spanish in the future.”

Wingspan: Do you have any advice for people who want to learn a new language?

Vicente: “They have to try harder because sometimes they arrive and think that this will be an easy class because Spanish is super easy–it’s not. I think Spanish requires a lot of work not just from the teacher but from the students especially..”

Wingspan: Have you ever lived in or visited a Spanish-speaking country?

Vicente: “I’m actually from Argentina, and I’ve lived all of my life in Argentina. I also used to live in Mexico. I lived there for two years.”

Wingspan: Have you ever found yourself thinking in English but speaking in Spanish? Or vice versa?

Vicente: “Yes, all of the time. I’m thinking in Spanish but I’m trying to speak in English. I try to think more in English when I’m speaking in English, and thinking in Spanish while I’m speaking in Spanish.

Wingspan: What’s the best part about teaching?

Vicente: “I love my language, so teaching my own language is very good. I really like to teach my own language and I really like when the students are engaged in the class and they are learning and they are trying. I really love when they try hard.”

Wingspan: Do you think the school gives people enough opportunities to learn new languages?

Vicente: “Yes, I think so because here you have Spanish, French, Chinese and ESL, so I think you have more than enough opportunities to learn them.”