By: Giovanna Halbeck
*Some answers in this interview have been paraphrased as I typed them up during the interview, so this does in part, include my own impression and interpretation of Señora Burnside’s words.*
The course that I want to highlight in this post is Spanish 2 Part B. I took this course in the Fall
semester of my Junior year in August-December 2022. My teacher for this course was Señora
Christina Burnside. A highlight of the course was learning about all of the different animals and
climates. We went over the weather, nature’s seasons, and many more interesting things.
Another highlight of the course was the Discussion Board Project we had for Unit 11. This was
one of my favorite assignments. We got to make a slideshow presentation of an imaginary trip to
the grocery store in Spanish (our foreign language). We made up the dialogue between a
shopkeeper and a customer and got to add pictures and make the presentation interactive! I
remember it being very fun. I decided what food to make that corresponded with a Spanish-
speaking country and made a list of the ingredients in that dish.
For a long time, foreign language courses didn’t have Final exams or projects, so Señora
Burnside’s class was the first Spanish course in which I completed a Final exam. I also really
enjoyed this assignment because I got to research an important holiday in a Spanish-speaking
country, and I chose Dia de la Virgen Guadalupe (Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe) to make a
poster of. I got to design it uniquely and use the colors from Mexico’s flag as the color scheme. I
think that the assignment was particularly important because it gave us a chance to learn about
many lesser-known holidays in Spanish-speaking regions and be informed not only about the
language, but the culture.
particular subject?
Señora Burnside said that she loves to teach the upper division (or more advanced) Spanish
classes. She even created Spanish 4 Honors which is a Spanish course here at ASU Prep Digital
that allows you to utilize the grammar you have learned in previous Spanish courses and apply it
to real-world contexts. Her favorite part about teaching this subject is seeing her students make
connections in language and culture. It opens their eyes up to the world. She thinks that
Language is a fun subject to teach. You get to do projects, games, and learning activities which
make it exciting. She also loves seeing her students make connections and realizations for
example with the origins of Cinco de Mayo and that it’s not Mexico’s Independence Day.
Señora Burnside said that the biggest challenge in teaching Spanish (2 Part B and Spanish in
general) is not being able to see most of her students. She said that she used to teach at a brick-
and-mortar school and online school is very different from how you would go over and learn
Spanish every day, picking up where you left off the day before. In-person teaching is overall
more interactive. Online school means people might not go to live lessons or go over Spanish
every single day.
3. Any advice for students beginning (or considering) this course?
be afraid of. You don’t have to be perfect. The best thing you can do is try! When learning a new
language it’s also important to remember that everyone is in the same boat. You may know
English well but this is an entirely new language and you’re starting from the very beginning!
It’s okay to build up what you know, and doing a little each day will help you a lot. Use Spanish
as much as you can, use course resources, and go to the live lessons. Don’t be too hard on
yourself and remember to have fun!
