2008 Woodie Awards
Free lunchtime Spanish class gives students gift of language
Graduate student spends spare time teaching professors, students, staff
By: Raelene Willis
Issue date: 9/3/08 Section: Features
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Graduate student Susana Murillo Leon teaches the class from noon to 12:50 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday to about 15 faculty and staff members.
Already, Leon has watched three of her students bicker about what they would take with them off a sinking boat, a class assignment she had just given.
As they argued, all she could do was watch with a smile. She did this because they were arguing in Spanish.
"I gave them the language," Leon said. "And I love it when they speak it and try to learn new things."
Leon has always had a passion for teaching, she said. So during her lunch hour she chooses to teach the class to anybody willing to learn in a stress-free, test-free environment.
She has taught this class for a year and finds it challenging to teach adults after teaching children in Costa Rica, where she was born and raised.
"To teach adults is so amazing," Leon said. "They're very critical, they ask a lot of questions and they're very abstract. They're not like children who are like sponges."
Leon gives her students a small amount of information at a time so they relax and take it in with more ease, she said. The first lesson started with names and hobbies, and that was it until the next lesson.
Deborah Genito, counselor at the Psychological Counseling and Campus Wellness Center, is in the class for her third semester and enjoys every minute of it, she said.
"I like the fact that it's not intimidating at all," she said. "There's no pressure from taking exams and tests. It's just an enjoyable way to learn."
Genito has been working on becoming a fluent Spanish speaker for years and is continuing to work on her pronunciation, she said.
"(Leon) presents the information in a way you can use in everyday language," she said. "And I feel like I can take this class just for the pleasure of learning."
Kenny Chan, a marketing professor, sees the class as a way to improve his Spanish skills.
"I feel it is a very useful language," Chan said. "And since I already speak English and Chinese, it would be nice to increase my Spanish so I can have some skill in three of the four top languages in the world."
Chan thinks the class is a good starting point, but doesn't think anyone can learn the language until they experience the country, he said.
Leon experienced English for the first time at 16 when she came to live with an American family, she said. All she knew was "Hello" and "How are you?" so she puts an emphasis on conversation rather than reading or writing.
"Writing isn't as useful as knowing how to speak and interact," she said. "It's just more practical."
The class will continue through the semester in Tehama Hall, and Leon will teach anyone motivated enough to learn her first language.
"It's such a small world and we have so many cultures," she said. "Knowing another language is like knowing another soul."
Raelene Willis can be reached at
rwillis@theorion.com
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