Dana S

Dana S Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Dana, why don’t you start with a quick introduction!

A. Hi! I’m Dana, from Spain. I’m 25 and currently a postgraduate student. I studied Linguistics and Literature and I’m now specializing in Translation. So, as you can see, I have a big interest in languages; the complexity and perfection of the internal structure of all languages amazes me, but also how each language seems to carry the soul of its culture.

Q. Could you please tell us about your country. Which part of Spain are you from?

A. I grew up in a town near Valencia. Valencia is known for its tomato festival —la tomatina, its fire festival —las Fallas, and its oranges. I love oranges, but I love orange blossoms even more: they have the sweetest smell and they are one of my most vivid childhood memories. In Spanish we call these small little flowers “azahar”, a word that, like many others, has its origins in the Arabic language. Valencias’s warm sea and its bright spring and summer days are also very special. The Mediterranean coast is blessed with a light so radiant and brilliant! A well known Valencian 19th-century painter, Joaquín Sorolla, depicted it perfectly in his oil paintings. But, as I student, I’ve been living for quite a long time in Salamanca; this city, located on quite the opposite side of Spain, has already become my second home. It has no coast and winters are really cold here, but it is a beautiful historical city and its university, la Universidad de Salamanca, was the first to be founded in Spain (in the 13th century!). It’s an old city with a young heart. (It takes less than a day to visit Salamanca, and only two hours and a half to get here from Madrid, either by bus or by train, so I totally recommend a day-trip if you’re travelling around Spain! It’s a World Heritage site and a favorite place to buy good jamón serrano.)

Q. According to your profile, you’ve taught Spanish in Kyoto, Japan. I heard you’re studying Japanese! How do you learn Japanese in Spain?

A. Yes, I spent a year studying Japanese and teaching Spanish part-time in Kyoto. I didn’t really want to return home last September and I really hope I can go back to Japan some day! I guess it isn’t that easy to practice Japanese in Spain, but Salamanca might be the exception! Since it is a very popular destination for international students learning Spanish, there are plenty of opportunities to make friends and to do language exchange with Japanese students. Moreover, the University of Salamanca has a Hispanic-Japanese center, with the biggest library of Japanese books in Spain! And, of course, there’s the Internet. I have recently started taking lessons on Cafetalk myself, and it’s really interesting to experience Cafetalk from both sides! Besides, I try to read an easy version of the NHK news on this webpage (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/index.html) every day.

Q. What do you usually do on your off days?

A. I have always been a bookworm, and I spend a lot of time reading; some of my favorite authors are Julio Cortázar, Miguel Delibes, J.D. Salinger and John Steinbeck. But now that spring is starting, I enjoy spending time outdoors, even if it’s just going for a walk or having lunch by the river. Lately I have also been polishing my cooking skills and trying out new recipes —some turn out good, and some turn out really bad! Oh! And during Christmas holidays I tried to learn how to knit, so I have an unfinished scarf-project that, perhaps, will get done by next winter…

Q. I’d like to ask about your Spanish lessons. What is the main feature of your lessons?

A. Up to now, all my lessons have been different depending on who’s taking them! And I guess that’s their main feature: I am very concerned about students learning what they want to learn the way they want to learn it. I try to adapt the lesson to their goals and their favorite topics, if they mention any. With some students I use a textbook, with some I don’t, and I usually ask them after each lesson what kind of homework they would like, if the class was too easy or too difficult, if there is something they would particularly like to learn or review, etc.

Q. Before we finish, would you like to give our students a message?

A. It does not matter if you have very little time to study or if you forget most of the vocabulary you learn (really, don’t worry, that happens to everyone), just don’t get discouraged! Mastering any language takes time and is, above all, a matter of patience and perseverance. It’s about being constant, even if you feel that you’re not making progress (which is something that happens to most intermediate-advanced learners).

Every moment spent studying, every word you learn, every movie you watch is a little step forwads and, when a year passes and you look back, you’ll realize how much you’ve progressed!

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Dana S

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