Dongo+Prevalo,+Gabriela

I was an Amity in 1998-1999. It was a great and unforgettable year in many senses. At that time, I was a very young new teacher hungry for having new experiences in my personal and professional life. My year in La Crosse helped me to decide what to do with the rest of my life. I discovered that I wanted to teach Spanish as a Second Language and to work with adults.

When I returned to Lima in June 1999 I started looking for opportunities at different institutions that specialized in languages, but nothing interesting appeared. Then I made the decision to create my own opportunity to follow my dream: in January 2001 I opened “El Sol – Spanish School.” This was the first school in Lima, Peru, specializing only in teaching Spanish as a second language. I was a “handywoman”: recruiter, teacher, academic director, human resources director, accountant, co-director. It was a great challenge. The school is still running successfully after eight years.

After almost four years devoted to the school, I decided to study for a masters degree. I did it. I studied for a Masters in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language at Nebrija University in Madrid, Spain. I took this opportunity to travel to Europe and to visit beautiful places in Scotland, England and Spain. Later, I was invited by the Universidad Católica del Perú to be part of the academic staff of a new post graduate course “Diplomatura de Enseñanza del Idioma Español a hablantes de otras lenguas” (Teaching Spanish to non-Spanish speakers). In 2007 I had the great opportunity to return to La Crosse. I was so hapy to meet again my old friends in the Department of Foreign Languages and share with them as a visiting scholar. I came back for one year, but in September 2008 I will be starting my third.

This new experience in La Crosse is helping me to grow even more as a person and as a teacher. I love to create programs, so UW-L gave me the opportunity to build an exchange program with UPC (Universidad Peuana de Ciencias Aplicadas) in Lima. This agreement will allow students to go to the other country to study Spanish/English and American/Peruvian Social Studies in the summer or for one or two semesters.
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