黑料正能量

Discovering her passion for Spanish

Growing up and attending Neshaminy High School in a suburb in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Crystal viewed Spanish as a requirement that wouldn鈥檛 have any practical application in her daily life. However, everything changed in 10th grade when her high school鈥檚 foreign language club offered an 8-day trip to Spain and her parents encouraged her to go. The decision wasn鈥檛 easy for Crystal because her trip coincided with her soccer team鈥檚 state cup. Going to Spain meant getting cut from the team, but she decided to go despite it being a 鈥渂ig personal sacrifice to go to Spain.鈥�

Crystal鈥檚 life was forever changed when she first visited Spain on this trip at 15-years-old. 鈥淚t was the first time I saw the Spanish language and culture through a completely different perspective,鈥� Crystal said. 鈥淚 fell in love with Spain — the language and the culture.鈥� While traveling around the country, she discovered a newfound motivation to learn the Spanish language so she could communicate properly with locals. 鈥淚t was the realization that millions of people speak this language,鈥� Crystal described the moment when the Spanish language came to life for her.

Developing an online award-winning online Spanish course

While living in Spain for seven years total, Crystal met and married an Argentine who recovered his Spanish citizenship and became an architect. The couple had their first child while living in Spain before deciding it was time to move back to the United States, where they had a support system to help them raise their family and an easier time advancing their careers. Upon returning to the US, Crystal had a second child and received a Master鈥檚 in Education before attending Rutgers University to receive a PhD in Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition.

After earning her doctorate, Crystal was offered a job at 黑料正能量 and moved her family to Florida. 鈥淚 absolutely love what I鈥檓 doing and it鈥檚 the perfect job for me,鈥� Crystal praised her position at 黑料正能量. After accepting the position, she went straight to work improving the online format that existed before she took over SPN1130: Online Beginner Spanish I and SPN1131: Online Beginner Spanish II. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a huge and fantastic challenge to think 鈥榟ow can I successfully teach the Spanish language in an online environment?鈥欌�� Noting the importance of conversation practice when learning a new language, Crystal turned to Lingua Meeting鈥攁 program that pairs students with native speakers living in other countries. 鈥淭he thing I鈥檓 most proud of that we鈥檝e accomplished in the past year is working with this coaching company,鈥� Crystal noted the positive changes in her students鈥� language comprehension.

Crystal鈥檚 students are often most hesitant to produce and speak the language as opposed to easier tasks like reading and writing. 鈥淢y model is all about production,鈥� she said. By reversing the language learning model to focus on the harder task of production first, students find their skills easily transferable to simpler tasks. 鈥淭he feedback from students has been absolutely fantastic,鈥� Crystal noticed the drastic difference in student learning due to their relationships with the native-speaking coaches and decided to permanently incorporate it into her course. Its popularity and success have inspired other institutions to seek her advice and guidance to adopt her model of online language learning into their own programs.

Crystal鈥檚 groundbreaking online Spanish course earned her the CLAS International Educator of the Year award. 鈥淚鈥檓 just so honored and blessed,鈥� she said about winning the award. 鈥淲ho would think that the online program would get the international reward?鈥�

Transforming lives through language

Given her fascination with how people learn languages, Crystal realized that positive perception and motivation were key to student success. Most students take her course as a language requirement for their degrees and they鈥檙e initially nervous about taking a foreign language online. 鈥淚鈥檓 much more focused on their receptivity and attitude toward the language because language learning is a journey,鈥� Crystal said. Despite a student鈥檚 initial apprehension toward the course, their developing relationship with their coach often puts them at ease. 鈥淭his is an opportunity to give them a taste of authentic engagement and it鈥檚 tremendous for motivating their interest in the language and culture.鈥�

Crystal has been encouraged by the positive relationships her students develop with their native-speaking coaches, with some students even traveling to different countries to meet their coach in person. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not study abroad, but it鈥檚 the closest thing we can give somebody that鈥檚 in an online engagement with this language and culture without leaving your living room.鈥� Her course has also opened up new doors for her students they never expected, like being able to speak to spanish-speaking family for the first time or move to other countries. 鈥淚 know [the course] is successful because at the end of it, the majority of students are asking 鈥榟ow can I keep learning?鈥欌��

鈥淐ovid has made everybody reevaluate what education can look like,鈥� Crystal discussed the advantages of online learning. 鈥淭his model works. Online isn鈥檛 inferior to classroom instruction, it鈥檚 different. For me, this is an opportunity for accessibility.鈥� Crystal hopes that other institutions and courses can benefit from what she鈥檚 discovered through her own course. She also accredits her supportive and skillful Course Assistants, Sonia San Juan and Mar铆a Hern谩ndez, for helping her carry out her vision at 黑料正能量. 鈥淚 love 黑料正能量. I love my colleagues. I love the organization of 黑料正能量, which has been dear and special to me.鈥�