The Spanish Cave: Languages, Teaching, & Other Thoughts
About
“Every morning when I wake up, and I see there’s a whole new other day, I just go absolutely ape!” (Paris When It Sizzles)
Audrey Hepburn
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“Maestra” has an M.A. in Spanish Linguistics from Middlebury College. This is her 18th year of teaching Spanish. Prior to arriving at her current position, she taught Spanish at a private, independent school in Ohio for ten years, and then took a year off to travel the world.
She has traveled to at least 16 countries now, including Iceland, China, and Argentina, and spent two summers hiking across northern Spain. She is passionate about writing, language(s), travel, culture projects, online privacy, and minimalism; has seven years of experience in ballroom dance; and enjoys listening to music in languages she does not understand.
Background
THE CAVE: More than eighteen years ago, at the beginning of my teaching career, my boss walked me to my new room and explained my job quite succinctly: “Teach Spanish”. There was no curriculum, no book, nothing to follow–I was on my own. While some would be overwhelmed by such a task, I was excited to begin with a blank canvas. The idea of a Spanish Cave came several years later, when I was moved to a tiny classroom and we started calling it La cueva/The Cave. Have fun exploring the virtual version of this cave!
Quotable Quotes
“We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly. If someone knows how to play the violin only a little, he will find that the painful minutes he causes are not in proportion to the possible joy he gains from his playing. The amateur chemist spares himself ridicule only as long as he doesn’t aspire for professional laurels. The man somewhat skilled in medicine will not go far, and if he tries to trade on his knowledge without certification, he will be locked up as a quack doctor.
Solely in the world of languages is the amateur of value. Well-intentioned sentences full of mistakes can still build bridges between people. Asking in broken Italian which train we are supposed to board at the Venice railway station is far from useless. Indeed, it is better to do that than to remain uncertain and silent and end up back in Budapest rather than in Milan.”
“I think back to Plato’s Republic when considering how best to teach. Socrates instructs us, “Therefore, you best of men, don’t use force in training the children in the subjects, but rather play. In that way can you better discern toward what each is naturally directed.” To discover that special place where work and play merge to create joyful, meaningful – and therefore valuable – learning is to discover a lifetime of self-directed learning.
This playlist includes inspirational videos that remind us of the good, beautiful, and truly incredible in/of/about humanity–and what we can accomplish when we set our mind to something. Enjoy!
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