Meet Lauren McConnell, who wrote and supervised the production of a play called Maytags. She works for Central Michigan University teaching Theater. She grew up in Washington State and currently lives in Mount Pleasant, Michican with her husband, daughter, dog, and cat. Read Part One here.
VV: What options does Central Michigan University offer for Spanish speakers?
LM: For students who want to study Spanish, CMU offers major and minor degree programs in Spanish, as well as a Master of Arts in Spanish. We also have Sigma Delta Pi, a Spanish honorary society that has conversation hours and activities, and a Spanish club. The students who participate in Sigma Delta Pi were very helpful in giving me advice on the play and publicizing the performance.
VV: What inspired you to study Spanish?
LM: I studied five years of Spanish when I was in high school, and had the chance to live in Mexico for a while during the summer of my 7th and 8th grades, so I have had a long affection for the Spanish language. Then recently I went to study Spanish in Argentina through a program for faculty at Central Michigan University, so I had the chance to improve my Spanish skills there as well.
VV: In what ways have you used your Spanish speaking abilities once back home in the States?
LM: My sister-in-law is from Colombia, South America, so when I visit my brother and his family in Miami I have the chance to practice Spanish a little. For a while I worked in Florida, so I used my Spanish there as well. Here in Michigan there is a Spanish speaking community as well and I am hoping to connect with them more through our production of Maytags. Also, I have started attending the Sigma Delta Pi Spanish conversation hour that meets every Friday.
VV: How would you describe your Spanish program with ECELA?
LM: I really enjoyed studying Spanish at the ECELA school in Bariloche and Buenos Aires, and would definitely like to come back and study again. The teachers were very accommodating and the sequencing of the textbooks was good. I got in a lot of practice speaking Spanish at school and through various activities in the afternoons.
VV: Do you have any words of encouragement for those who are considering studying Spanish via immersion?
LM: I was at an intermediate level of Spanish when I went to study in Argentina, and that definitely made it easier for me to learn quickly, because I had been introduced to a lot of the vocabulary and concepts earlier. There were other people who were studying Spanish for the first time, however, and many of them made very quick progress as well. It is much easier to learn when you are surrounded by the language, and when you don’t have any other options but to communicate in Spanish. I found the people in Argentina very nice and encouraging to non-native speakers.
VV: Any final thoughts or advice?
LM: I’m really thrilled to get back into the Spanish-speaking realm and I hope I’ll be able to work on some other Spanish language plays in the future.