As finals draws to a close, the Spanish
for Public Service finishes its third semester being taught at University of
the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. The class which teaches students
basic Spanish to use in their future professional field is taught by Jennifer
Marsh, associate professor in Spanish and World Languages. Any student at UC can
take the class without taking a prerequisite first.
“I absolutely enjoyed the whole
class,” said Kristen Swords, a senior exercise and sports science and public
health double major from Ecru, Mississippi. “I was just talking to someone
today, saying I highly recommend it. It was a good break from my major classes.
Ms. Marsh works with us well and it was really helpful. Students would enjoy it
especially if they like learning little bit of a new language.”
Swords was advised to take the class
as she’s going into the field of sports medicine and will encounter people of
various backgrounds who might not speak English. The class covers basic phrases
of greetings for meeting patients or others in different professional fields. Halfway
through the semester after basic conversation skills have been covered, Marsh separates
the students into groups based on their majors where they study specific
phrases needed in their area of study. There have been groups for premed
students, criminal justice majors, human services majors, psychology majors,
and missions and ministry majors.
“The
class is useful for people who are going into the areas of the medical field,
law enforcement, or any other,” said Jessica Jordan, a senior human services
major from Somerset, Kentucky. “There’s a good chance I’ll be working with
families of Hispanic culture. Being able to speak Spanish benefits me and them.”
Marsh
helps the students put what they learn to use by role playing scenes they might
encounter in their different jobs. The phrases learned from skits for a doctor’s
office scene will be different than an encounter with police officers so the
departmental groups are important to the students learning. Ideally, in the
future Marsh says they would like to have specialized classes for learning
conversational Spanish for different careers. For now, they’ll continue to separate
into departmental groups within the class and learn basic conversation in Spanish.
“I
enjoy meeting students who have other majors,” said Marsh. “I’m used to seeing
our own little group of Spanish majors and minors. It’s wonderful to me to see
a variety of students.”
Aside
from learning Spanish, they also learn and discuss in English about different
cultural aspects of the Hispanic community in the United States. Since the
Hispanic community in South America is different than the Hispanic community in
Louisville or Cincinnati, Marsh recognizes the need to teach that as well. They
discuss what family dynamics look like, the different religious practices, and
other useful information when encountering people in their future places of
employment.
“Because
the Spanish population has increased in the U.S., no matter where students get
a job, they are likely to come in contact with Spanish speaking people,” said
Marsh.
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