dicho y hecho - PROGRAM SAMPLER

I was raised on Long Island, New York, where my interest in Spanish was nurtured by my teachers Mr. Martin Stone and Mr. Paul Ferrotti. After finishing my B.A. in Spanish at Washington University in St. Louis (and a wonderful sophomore year in Salamanca, Spain), I completed an M.A. in Hispanic linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I took a two-year hiatus to teach English in Mexico City and an additional few months in Colmar, France, then returned to Urbana and completed a Ph.D. in Hispanic linguistics with a concentration in second language acquisition and teacher education. I have been at the University of Illinois at Chicago since 1999, where I direct the Spanish for Heritage Speakers program. I thank my husband Cliff Meece and his parents, Gayle Meece and Cliff Meece Sr., for all of their support. Soon after becoming Licenciada in English Philology in Spain, I arrived at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to pursue an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language. A few weeks later, I first faced a classroom believing that my job consisted in explaining grammar rules and their exceptions, giving examples, and correcting mistakes. My academic work in Applied Linguistics and experience teaching English and Spanish have proved to me that language learning and teaching are much more complex and exciting processes. Dicho y hecho brings together my experience and that of my co-authors for a text that we hope will facilitate teaching and learning while making it a meaningful, enjoyable endeavor. Dedico este trabajo a mis profesores, estudiantes y colegas, de quienes sigo aprendiendo, y especialmente a mis padres, Eusebio y María de los Ángeles, por enseñarme, inspirarme y apoyarme siempre. Dicho y hecho’s first edition had its beginnings during an 11,000-mile road trip through Mexico in the late 1970s. Since that time, Dicho has been an integral part of my life journey, with inspiration drawn from my passion for teaching and my love for Hispanic cultures. I was born in Buenos Aires and attended bilingual schools there and in Mexico City. This foundation led me to graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin and a teaching career, first at Virginia Union University and then at the University of Richmond, where I directed the Intensive Spanish Program. I also accompanied students on study-abroad programs in Spain and South America, and on service-learning experiences in Honduras. In my retirement I participate in community integration projects in the bicultural town of Leadville, Colorado and teach ESL to immigrant women. I continue to travel extensively and enjoy being madrina to four orphaned girls in Honduras This tenth edition of Dicho will be my despedida , knowing that it will live on in the hands of Kim and Silvia, two truly extraordinary professionals. I dedicate it to the many generations of students who have been touched by Dicho , discovering in its pages open doors to the Hispanic world. Laila Dawson Silvia Sobral Kim Potowski