The Importance of Learning a New Language with Mrs. Wren
Written by Violetta V. ‘27
Mrs. Wren is a Spanish teacher here at Saint Joseph Notre Dame. She is originally from Lima, Peru and has been teaching for 5–6 years. Mrs. Wren loves teaching different languages and is fluent in Spanish and English, used to be fluent in French, and started studying Italian. I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Wren and learning more about her.
Q1: What was it like learning a new language?
I love learning languages. I also used to be fluent in French and I also started studying Italian. I was already fluent in English when I moved to EE.UU.
Q2: What was your first language and where are you originally from?
My first language is Spanish and I am originally from Lima, Peru.
Q3: What language do you teach?
I teach Spanish.
Q4: What do you enjoy about teaching?
I love teaching my mother tongue to students because I enjoy that students want to learn a different language that is not their native language or maybe they want to improve their own.
Q5: What’s the hardest thing about learning a new language?
For some students that are learning English, I would say it is the pronunciation because there are a lot of sounds that do not exist in other languages. For English speakers that are learning Spanish, I would say it is grammar as it is different from their own. Grammar in Spanish is similar to French and Italian as they come from Latin.
Q6: How long have you been teaching?
I have been teaching for at least 5–6 years. I have taught as young as 1st graders.
Q7: What are two things you would recommend to someone who is learning a new language?
There are so many tools online to practice. When I studied we did not have those. For Spanish, we have so many opportunities to practice in the Bay Area. Also, it is important to practice outside of class.
