Juan Sanchez Foreign Language Faculty Universidad Estatal a Distancia, B.S. Interests: Soccer, soccer, and more soccer; rock climbing, hiking, and outdoors activities; learning about environmental, social, and economic politics; reading (especially fiction books that narrate past social or political events); learning languages (currently, I am teaching myself Portuguese); traveling (I am planning on traveling to Brazil in the future to learn Portuguese better); dancing.

The best thing about teaching at CSW is the casual and informal relationship between students, staff, and faculty members, all within an atmosphere of mutual respect. It is very rewarding to be able to have insightful conversations with my students or advisees. I learn a great deal both about them and myself every time we have a discussion. The students here are smart, creative, and love expressing their points of view and opinions openly. All this makes the CSW community a safe place for students and staff alike to express their beliefs and concerns with confidence.

I have two courses that I love teaching at CSW: Spanish III and the Spanish-science off-campus course in Central America. I have taught Spanish III several times since I came to CSW, and every time I teach it, I find it even more fascinating. For this class we use a college-level textbook that covers concepts that are more abstract and challenging—just the kind of material CSW students like. I teach the entire course in Spanish and the students are encouraged to speak entirely in Spanish. I particularly enjoy the third module of Spanish III, when we analyze the political and economic relationship between Latin America and the United States.

The Spanish-science off-campus trip is in my opinion the ultimate learning experience for a CSW student. They are “forced” to learn both sScience and Spanish by immersing themselves in the culture and the different natural environments of the Central American countries we visit. As a Costa Rican, this is also an important opportunity for me to share my culture and my language with my students. On the last trip, I traveled with18 students to my hometown, Atenas, where they stayed with local families. In addition to conducting scientific research in Spanish, the students also participated in three hours of Spanish classes daily with some of my former high school Spanish teachers. This hands-on approach is what makes this course so special to me.

A student project that really stands out in my mind is one on the economic and political debate between communism, socialism, and capitalism. This project is part of a series of political and social analyses done in the third module of Spanish III. I divide the class into two teams to debate political ideology. CSW students are great debaters and the fact that the debate is conducted in Spanish does not affect their performance. As a result of the research and the debate, the students gain a deeper understanding of both economic and political systems, and in the process develop stronger Spanish speaking skills.