Please Introduce Yourself Here

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Permalink Reply by Don Ortega on March 10, 2009 at 10:18am

We are making progress...now there are two education professionals in the group.

My name is Don Ortega. I am a native New Mexican who currently lives in Pueblo, Colorado. I actually started my career in higher eduaction at my undergraduate Alma Materm, the College of Santa Fe. I loved the eucation environment as a student, so working in the field was an easy transition.

The position that really kicked off my career was my work in Grants and Contracts management. G & C is a fairly specialized field, so it opened up opportunities. Although I am not currenlty employed in higher education, I definitely plan on getting back in to the field...it's in the blood!

As I look back, I believe that one of the toughest obstacles I have faced is the glass cieling phenomenom. It is very difficult for persons of color to progress in senior ranks of higher education. I believe it is partly because there are not many that look like us at those levels, therefore it may be somewhat difficult for persons that are not of color to relate to our struggles and differences. The other difficulty is the lack of mentoring that in my career. I just never had a strong person of color in my professional career for a mentor.

I would definitley recommend higher education careers to young people. We need more Latinos and Latinas in the classroom as well as the boardroom. First and foremost, I would those interested in higher education to get the academic credentials. You can't compete without them. Second, I would recommend that you start building a network of other professionals that you can trust to help you as you move forward. Sometimes it is as important for people that you trust to give you some constructive criticism as it is for them to give you advice.

All in all, higher education has been an outstanding career for me. I would do it all again if I could...maybe just a little differently.

Don-

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Permalink Reply by Joe Robertson on March 10, 2009 at 11:25am

Saludos a todos! I am 54 yrs. old and have just retired from 24 years with the U.S. Postal Service. I have been teaching Spanish part-time for several years, in all settings, here in INdiana. I have taught children through adults, in churches, parochial and public schools, community centers and vocational schools. I am currently teaching part-time at the local community college. Previously I was a Counselor with a State government program for migrant farmworkers, and before that I taught ESL and bilingual GED at a Job Corps Center. I am VERY INTERESTED in re-entering the teaching field part-time or full-time, and have been visiting several job search sites. Who knows what God will bring my way? As the Spanish saying goes," El hombre propone, y Dios dispone."
I am looking forward to meeting some of my fellow teachers out there.

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Permalink Reply by martita on March 10, 2009 at 3:19pm

Hi my name is Marta and I live in PR

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Permalink Reply by Melanie Fox on March 14, 2009 at 12:04pm

I am a linguist who specializes in Dialect Coaching for English (American English) and Accent Elimination. I taught adult ESL in a classroom setting, but I am now available to give private lessons for accent coaching. I can also teach native English speakers Spanish for business purposes (medical Spanish, Spanish for business professionals, diplomats, etc.)

I got into teacher adult ESL through my linguistics background (MSLI), and worked for public schools' adult education programs and college adjunct positions on Long Island and also private tutoring in New York City.

I plan to give private coaching lessons part-time, and eventually develop something more permanent.

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Permalink Reply by Roberto A. Lopez on March 19, 2009 at 2:46am

I suppose I am expected to write in English, although I am more proficient in Spanish, my first language. Anyway, after I received an email from LatPro, it looked attractive to me to network with people sharing my personal interests. I graduated from medical school in Mexico (MD). Despite this credential and a Master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University in Public Health, a specialty in mental health from the University of London and seven years in a Ph.D. at the UCLA School of Public Health (Health Promotion and Education), it has been difficult to find a proper job here in the US. In addition, I am a certified health education specialist (CHES), and have special focus on substance abuse prevention, treatment and research. I would really love to work for a dynamic company with the vision to use the potential in my professional training, particularly with the Latino community. Also, I believe people from other cultures could benefit from my cultural competency and bilingual capabilities to address the Latino culture. Most of my jobs have been as program director, program manager, program coordinator, health educator, research coordinator and psychiatric assistant. I place my strongest abilities on program planning, implementation and evaluation, program coordination, health education and production of educational materials, which also applies for marketing purposes. I look forward to keep in touch with this group.

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Permalink Reply by Homer Stanley Ferguson on March 23, 2009 at 4:47pm

I have been teaching Spanish, Portuguese, or English as another language since I was a senior at Baylor University. To earn money for the School Lunch Program while a Peace Corps Volunteer in Brazil, I taught English as a second language. Upon returning to the US, I earned a Teaching Assistantship at the University of Texas where I taught beginning and intermediate Portuguese. During the summers, I also taught advanced Portuguese to hand-picked students from various parts of the country.

Throughout my life I have taught English, Spanish, and Portuguese as a tutor, as a one-on-one instructor, and as a classroom instructor. For four years I taught these three languages at the Berlitz School of languages in Nashville. For 34 years I was employed by the IRS where, on several occasions, I was selected to teach advanced English composition for technical writers, IBM assembler language, structured analysis, structured design, structured logic, structured COBOL, VSE and MVS JCL, and other IBM mainframe utilities.

I have also taught as a substitute teacher in the Arlington Public School System.

I hope to teach as long as I am lucid and able.

Teaching languages to children is different from teaching them to adults. Up to age 12 or so, children possess the ability to learn a language "naturally," hearing, repeating, reading, and writing just as they learn their native language. Adults, however, learn best when they cognitively process phonetics, phonemics, intonational patterns, etc. Consequently, the instructor should be well grounded in phonetics, phonemics, morphemes, syntactical structures, and the application of such knowledge to individuals with unique personalities, motivations, and needs, and to individuals in varying environments. He/she should view language as an exciting avenue to teaching cultural perspectives and diversity.

I was born and reared in Texas. From an early age I was fascinated by my classmates who could speak Spanish. At the age of 14, I began to study the language on my own. In my senior high-school year, with no prior background in formal classroom study, I was advanced to third-year Spanish, where I made an "A" and gained admittance to the Spanish National Honor Society.

I went on to major in Spanish and minor in Religion. After the Peace Corps I completed three years of graduate study in Spanish, Portuguese, and linguistics. Upon retiring from the IRS, I earned my MSW from the University of South Carolina, thanks to a Returned Peace Corps Volunteers fellowship.

After working for a short while in the field of domestic violence with Hispanic women at the Legal Aid Society in Nashville, I accepted the position of interpreter at the Metro Department of Public Health, Children's Special Services (also in Nashville) this past August.

I married a Brazilian schoolteacher in 1966. We have always spoken Portuguese at home, and we successfully taught our children to speak Portuguese, to take pride in their Brazilian heritage, and to love their Brazilian relatives.

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Permalink Reply by Melanie Buckland on April 20, 2009 at 2:23am

I became interested in languages during high school when I began studying Spanish and knew I wanted to continue with it. I became a teacher in the mid 80's and have taught since then - approximately 20 years total to date. At present I am interested in relocating to teach elsewhere, or to transition into another field still using my bilingual skills, training experience, and strong proofreading/editing ability. Teaching is definitely worthwhile and overall I have enjoyed my career but at present I am also a bit tired of public school politics and prefer to see what else I could possibly do utilizing my previous experience. I presently live in VA but am open to relocation though I would prefer to remain in the Southeast if possible (VA, TN, SC, NC). Am very interested in trying to get into either federal government work in the metro DC area or into translation/interpretation, and would consider other locations. Also definitely willing to explore teaching in other locations as well. I hold both a BA and MA and would be open to other career opportunities. As far as advice I would give, it would be to explore other options also - teaching IS rewarding but not an easy profession to pursue. If anyone has any specific suggestions for me I would really appreciate hearing from you - especially the person who is currently working in Nashville! Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Nellie Cathleen Quiroga on October 10, 2009 at 5:49am

Even though I am now a bilingual marriage and family therapist, I keep up my certification as an k-8 teacher and school counselor. I taught bilingual and ESL education for 14 years in Phoenix, and before that in American and Bolivian schools in South America.

Now I teach therapists and get involved with training the interns who come to our agency. I am part of a small group in our agency that teach Spanish to therapists.

Catalina

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Permalink Reply by Nellie Cathleen Quiroga on October 10, 2009 at 5:50am

Hi, Melanie:
You might want to join the translator's group here on LatPro.
Catalina

Melanie Buckland said:

I became interested in languages during high school when I began studying Spanish and knew I wanted to continue with it. I became a teacher in the mid 80's and have taught since then - approximately 20 years total to date. At present I am interested in relocating to teach elsewhere, or to transition into another field still using my bilingual skills, training experience, and strong proofreading/editing ability. Teaching is definitely worthwhile and overall I have enjoyed my career but at present I am also a bit tired of public school politics and prefer to see what else I could possibly do utilizing my previous experience. I presently live in VA but am open to relocation though I would prefer to remain in the Southeast if possible (VA, TN, SC, NC). Am very interested in trying to get into either federal government work in the metro DC area or into translation/interpretation, and would consider other locations. Also definitely willing to explore teaching in other locations as well. I hold both a BA and MA and would be open to other career opportunities. As far as advice I would give, it would be to explore other options also - teaching IS rewarding but not an easy profession to pursue. If anyone has any specific suggestions for me I would really appreciate hearing from you - especially the person who is currently working in Nashville! Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Samuel Febres on November 9, 2009 at 11:12am

I am currently a recruiter for the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) in Fort Worth, Texas. I was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa. to Puerto Rican parents. I graduated from Rutgers University with a M.S.W. and have worked in urban education for the past 15 years. FWISD has a total of 135 schools and 80,000 students. We have a 60% Latino/Hispanic student population and we are constantly seeking highly qualified, passionate, enthusiastic, bilingual professionals.

My mother is my greatest inspiration single parent in foreign land. I recently enjoyed reading the The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

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