Learn Travel Teach
Launched in 2020 amid the inescapable quarantine, this site was created as a resource for learners, travelers, and teachers. Maybe you’re learning a new language on your own and are looking for community and solidarity in the process. Maybe you’re dreaming of a far off adventure and want to find stories that inspire you. Maybe you’re in a teaching rut and want to find some fresh resources and tactics to bring to your classroom. Maybe you’re like me, and at any given time are all three of those things! Well I hope you can find inspiration, advice and concrete exercises or activities to help you move forward and continue to crush it at life.
I bring my years of language learning, exploring the world, and experience in the classroom as well as managing teachers to the digital table. My professional life would have never unfolded in the way it did if I hadn’t spent a year as an exchange student in the Basque Country of Spain and because of this, I cannot separate my love of learning and teaching from my love of travel.
On these pages you will find musings and stories as well as concrete tips and resources. Reach out and send me an email at [email protected] if there’s something you’d like to see more of or if you are interested in collaborating in any capacity.
About Carmen
LEARN
My language learning began with Spanish, first in high school classes where I learned some verb lists and conjugations but almost nothing about being able to actually communicate. When I arrived in my remote village in the Basque Country, I didn’t even recognize the word castellaño which is what Spaniards call Spanish in their own language (instead of español). I learned an incredible amount in that year since I had no choice but to figure out a way to communicate with those around me! This experience informed my views on language acquisition and highlighted for me in a personal way the importance of communicative language teaching. When I needed to learn Portuguese for my Master’s, I decided that the best method for me would be to head off to Brazil to jump right in! I also took some wonderful classes from a colleague in my department and breezed through my eventual translation exam. The next language to tackle was Italian (I’ve stuck to the romance languages) which evolved from a personal desire to speak with my boyfriend’s family and friends in Italy.
TRAVEL
Clearly, travel has always been woven into my learning experience and I hope to continue picking up new languages as I explore new places. As much as I love heading overseas, living in the USA offers such a diverse landscape and unique cities that there is so much I have yet to see in this country as well. Having taught countless international students in Southern California, my past travels and future plans around the USA always provide a fun way to connect with my students who are trying to see as much as they can while in California.
TEACH
As a teacher, my first classes were part of a pilot program at Western Washington University where I completed my BA in Spanish. The department had decided to launch a series for faculty and staff to take conversational Spanish classes. As one of the chosen instructors, I partnered with another student each quarter and through guidance and collaboration with a professor and other student instructors we created our own curriculum, lesson plans and materials. After this experience, I was hooked on teaching. While working towards my MA in Iberian Linguistics, I taught lower division Spanish classes at the University of California Santa Barbara. We had a thorough curriculum and a great textbook to work with which made these classes a wonderful opportunity to focus on developing my teaching style. In my third year at UCSB, I was promoted to the Lead Teaching Assistant of my department, which meant I assisted the Language Program Director and acted as a liaison and resource for all of the TAs in our department. I absolutely loved this position even though I missed being in the actual classroom. It was so rewarding for me to be able to advise my fellow TAs when they had issues and observe their classes to give feedback. Class observations have always been one of my favorite ways to grow as a teacher, both by being observed and by observing others.
During my second summer of grad school, I picked up a teaching position at a private English school for international students as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. Since my emphasis for my MA is in Second Language Acquisition and my native language is English, I thought why not give teaching English a try! I continued to work in the ESL world for the next four years and enjoyed the diversity of adult international classes which could have people from the ages of 15 to 65 in the same classroom from all different corners of the globe. Teaching your native language is a completely different experience from teaching a second language, but there are benefits to both and I love teaching in both English and Spanish.