Fulbright Spanish Language Assistant Esther Pescador de Galdo Shares More of Her Interview with Kaitlin Roeper

¡Hola! The Spring semester is finishing and soon I will be going back home. I am really sad about leaving but I am also looking forward to going back home so I can be with my family and friends. Kaitlin Roeper has written an article in The Iron Blade (you may read Kaitlin's article here) about my experience here in Ferrum College and she asked me a few more questions that I would like to share with you.

Q.: How has your experience at Ferrum been different from what you expected?

I did not have any expectations really, because I know every experience is different. It is true that I thought there would be more events concerning intercultural events or the promotion of different countries and cultures on campus but I tried to bring my own experience into my classroom in order to promote my culture and my country as well as to teach the Spanish language.

Q: What was your favorite part about being here?

My favorite part is to be living in such a remote place. I love having gotten used to not seeing taxis, buses, shops and people everywhere. I think I was lucky to be able to experience something so different from what I was used to. I am so glad I was not placed in a big city. There were times when I felt a bit lonely but I am really happy I could experience once in a life time living in a remote place like Ferrum. I have learned to appreciate and value things that I used to take for granted like taking the bus or being able to choose if I wanted to go to the cinema or the theatre and being only 20 minutes away from either. Also I love the accent of the people from around here, which I found very hard to understand at the beginning. And I love going to Floyd and listening to music there. I even tried to learn how to dance with Jessa King but I was not very successful… I am really going to miss Floyd!

Q: What can you take away from this experience?

I have experienced America, since I was used to Ireland and England and the English and culture there, so I have a broader knowledge of the English-speaking world now. So basically I have learned a lot and experienced new things, and become a better teacher and person through my experience here. Also, I am going to miss my students. I love when they see me around campus and they address me in Spanish and say to me: ¡Hola! I have met really nice students and I hope they will miss me a little bit too.

Q: Did you accomplish what you were hoping to get from this experience?

Apart from my teaching experience, and my traveling, I wanted to experience a country in which Spanish is the second language. I just wanted to have new experiences and I wanted to live in this country for a while to see what America is like from my own experience. My previous experiences in English-speaking countries as a Spaniard were always positive. Everyone wanted to talk to me in Spanish, ask me about Spain, tell me they have been on holidays there, etc. Here, however, a lot of people assumed I was Mexican, or either Mexican or Spanish, but there are 21 countries in which Spanish is spoken as an official language! Why could I only be from Mexico or Spain? Also, I have been walking in the street while I was talking in Spanish with friends and I was asked if I did not know how to speak English and I had to speak Spanish instead, and also I was told that in America “we” speak English. On the other hand, I have students who are really interested in learning a new language and in learning about different cultures and countries, so I hope I have showed them a bit from other countries and cultures, and I hope they are curious about what there is outside America and they travel! Also, I hope that students who are bilingual and speak both English and Spanish are proud of their origin and their languages and keep speaking Spanish and speak Spanish to their children one day. My biggest accomplishment would be if my students felt curiosity and wanted to travel and wanted to continue learning Spanish and to broaden their knowledge about different cultures and languages.

Q: What will you take back to Spain to teach others about us?

Well, first that America is not what we see in the movies like Sex in the City or shows like Friends. There might be some parts of America which are like that but there is another side of it, the one I got to experience. The one in which my neighbours are a squirrel and a woodpecker. The one in which there are no buses but pick-up trucks. From my experience, American people are really friendly and welcoming. I love walking in the cafeteria and everyone has always a smile on their faces, and when I walk around campus I always stop to chat for a while with everyone (so then I am always late!). I am taking to Spain great memories that I will share with my friends and family, and also experiences and pictures that I would use in the classroom when I am teaching English there, so as I have been promoting my culture here, I will promote this part of America I got to live to my students there. Hopefully I will come back to Ferrum one day!

See more of my photographs here.

Sharing My Spanish Culture & Language on Campus

From Madrid to Ferrum: Fulbright Adventures in the U.S.

¡Hola! Loads of new events have been happening on campus these days!

The Fulbright program seeks to form leaders who share their knowledge and culture, are open to new ideas, and are committed to international engagement, this is why, apart from teaching my language, my duty is also to promote my culture on campus as well as learn from the American culture. This is when the experience becomes truly enriching for the Fulbrighter.

I am teaching two different Spanish classes, so we could say that in some way I am sharing my culture, however, just my students get the chance to learn from my experience. Therefore, in order to promote my culture and my language on campus, I have been keeping myself busy! Now, I have my own radio show in Spanish and English. You can listen to Habla español on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. on Ferrum Radio. Each week, different guests come to share their experiences with all our amigos. On our first show, Jessa was talking about her experience studying abroad, and she encouraged everyone to do the same if they want to have an amazing experience (just like she did!) Last week, Clifton explained how he became interested in learning Spanish, and the impact his Spanish teacher had on him before coming to Ferrum to major in Spanish. In every show you can listen to music from different Spanish-speaking countries, for example, bachata, salsa, pop, and rap. Also, we discuss what is happening outside our borders, and there is some time for a short poem in Spanish from one of the important authors of the literature in Spanish, such as Rubén Darío or Antonio Machado.

Not only the radio has been keeping me entertained. Last Tuesday I gave a talk about Spain: “España in 10 questions”. We discovered interesting facts about Spain. For examples, Spain was the fourth country in the world to legalize gay marriage and bullfighting is not as popular as it might be expected.

I will give another talk about Spain in March, so I hope to see you all there! And  tune in to our Spanish show, Habla español every Tuesday at 11 a.m. on Ferrum Radio.

See more of my photographs here.

From Madrid to Ferrum: Six Months of Fulbright Adventures in the U.S.

¡Hola! It’s been six months since I arrived to Ferrum! Six months full of first times: my first time in the United States, my first Día de los muertos, my first Thanksgiving, my first Christmas away from home, and the first time I got stuck at home due to the snow!!! Different experiences that have changed me and that have made me enjoy life in a different way.

Since I did not go home for Christmas, during the Winter Break I was traveling around the United States: Washington DC, Minnesotta, New Orleans, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas. I got the chance to visit old friends and also to make new friends.

In Washington I attended a Fulbright conference in which I gave a presentation about how to teach Spanish with other Spanish FLTAs. The conference was amazing, 401 people from all over the world who are currently teaching their home languages in the States. In Minnesota I spent Christmas with one of my dearest friends, Amanda. After, I went to the South with my friend Francesca, who is an Italian FLTA in North Carolina. We visited some other FLTAS who are teaching Turkish and Russian in Austin, Tx.

Now that we are already in the second semester, I am so looking forward to teaching my new classes and to the new challenges. I am really looking forward to doing a bit more traveling here in Virginia.

See more of my photographs here.

From Madrid to Ferrum: Fulbright Adventures in the U.S.

Fulbright Spanish Language Assistant Esther Pescador de Galdo found a new home at Ferrum College for the 2015-16 academic year.

¡Hola! My name is Esther. I arrived at Ferrum College two months ago to teach Spanish. I am from Madrid, Spain. This is my first time in the United States, and so far, the experience is going great!

I did my undergrad in Translation and Interpreting in Madrid and I also did a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics in Dublin (Ireland). I love languages, traveling, getting to know new cultures, peoples, traditions… and this is one of the reasons I decided to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship to come to the United States. I never thought I would be accept it but here I am!!! I believe traveling is the best way to learn and that’s what I like doing.

My journey in the States started on August 16, 2015, at Stanford University in California, where I had an orientation for four days. There I got to meet other Fulbrighters from different countries including Uruguay, Kenya, Uzbekistan, India and others. It was an amazing experience. We had different sessions in order to get introduced to the American culture, we also learned about teaching our languages, we visited San Francisco, participated in different events.

After that, I arrived at Ferrum College. My first impression was: what am I going to do here for fun? Ferrum is very different from the big cities of Madrid and Dublin. However, it has in common with my previous experiences that people are really friendly and welcoming. Since the very first day people have been really kind to me and always make me feel they are happy I am here.

Now I am teaching Spanish 101 and I participate in the Spanish Club on campus. I will be here until the end of May, so hopefully my experience will continue to be this excellent!

See photographs from my time in the United States here.