I have been volunteering at BIIN since October 2020 as an English teacher for Level 1 students. Being a native Spanish speaker has definitely been an advantage in helping me connect with and teach Latin American students. It has been encouraging to see how eager our students are to learn a new language, even at a mature age. Every time we speak, my students talk about their busy lives, due to their demanding jobs and/or the large families they care for, and yet they always show up to class. That is awesome and I always try to honor that by caring about their learning experience.
It has been very gratifying to see their progress throughout the classes. I remember the first time we started to use audio exercises: they couldn’t understand much. But as the weeks went by and they got more practice, they were able to understand and even translate the conversations they heard. I also enjoy hearing and helping their pronunciation improve. I use Spanish phonetics to teach them the correct pronunciation of English words, and so far this has worked.
One challenge is that many students have a hard time retaining knowledge from previous lessons. For this reason, I review at the beginning of each class so they can refresh their memory and be ready for new material. Another challenge has been developing their English conversation skills. Students try to answer questions with the little vocabulary they have, and I generally understand them. But I know that sometimes it’s hard to come up with the correct grammar, or to keep the conversation going, when you have the pressure to respond quickly and if you feel embarrassed about speaking in a different language. For this reason, I am trying to create room for conversation in class. I really want to improve my teaching material, so that students can learn more quickly and effectively.
I am really impressed by the eagerness that the volunteers bring to every class. I think seeing students’ progress is the main factor that keeps volunteers excited.
Outside of BIIN, I am a research assistant in the Sociology Department at Texas A&M. Research is one of my passions. I also volunteer with the Organization of Women in Science in the Developing World (OWSD). My main task is to find grant and prize opportunities for Guatemalan women scientists. Guatemalan women scientists have been off the map, but they are truly doing impressive work in Guatemala and around the world. Therefore, my team and I are working to give them the exposure that their scientific work deserves. When summer ends, I will be starting the Ph.D. program in sociology at TAMU!