Manuel Oliva

Working in the social service field assisting the Hispanic newcomer community in Toronto, Canada through the complex process of settling in a new country; I experienced first-hand how a high number of Hispanic immigrant children or 1st generation progressively lose the fluency of their native language, Spanish. As a native Spanish speaker having relocated to an anglophone nation, I see the use of Spanish as means of cultural maintenance and source of identity. Therefore, I was motivated to pursue tertiary education in the language and become a certified Spanish teacher to help new generations in the Hispanic community to maintain their heritage and to learn it.

I continued to pursue postgraduate education in Hispanic Linguistics, as I became interested in the wide variety of dialects I was exposed to with my Latin American clients; and the shifts in their language as they incorporate to the anglophone community (i.e., L1 attrition and maintenance of idiolects). During my Master’s degree I was exposed to teaching Spanish as a foreign language, and saw the opportunity not only to create impact in the Hispanic community, but to disseminate my Spanish knowledge to students at all stages of development and from diverse cultural backgrounds.

I became a teacher of Spanish as a foreign language because it fosters an understanding of the interrelation of language and human nature and an appreciation for cultural diversity and globalization.