Pura vida - PROGRAM SAMPLER

viii NORMA LÓPEZ-BURTON A basic human needistobeunderstood,andforoverthirty years in the classroom this has guided me no more than here in Pura vida . My crusade of breaking stereotypes began in 1981 shortly after I started teaching Spanish at UC Davis. It was then that this Puerto Rican was surprised to learn that many assumed I liked spicy foods and celebrated El día de los muertos . Imagine further my shock when I saw all the textbooks of the day—and many still do—lump all sorts of people into one homogenous group: “Our Hispanic Friends!” And so for twenty years as program coordinator I purposefully built a curriculum in which all activities would be truly communicative, and all instructors would present culture in a country-specific, sensitive and consistent manner. It turned out that had been my calling. This passion extends to my writing. Inaddition to Puravida , Iwas aco-author of Rumbos and lead author for the language teaching methodology text, On Being a Language Teacher. My goal in all three texts is to elicit meaningful communication and teach skills of cultural competency. I have shared thedreamof Puravida with two former graduate students, now colleagues: Laura Marqués Pascual and Cristina Pardo Ballester. I am indebted to these two extraordinarily hard-working authors who never wavered from giving their best. Thank you. I dedicate the secondeditionof Pura vida to my granddaughter, Amelia Riley Burton, born during its production. About the Authors L AUR A MARQUÉS PASCUAL , PhD I studied Hispanic literature and linguistics at the Universidad de Alcalá, Spain. During my time as a college student I spent a year in Durham, England, where I studied literature and linguistics with British students. It was during my year abroad that I got interested in how people learn languages. I later moved to the United States to completemy graduate studies. I earned a MA in Teaching English as a Second Language from Bowling Green State University, and a PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of California, Davis. I am currently the Language Program Director at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I also teach Spanish language and linguistics courses at various levels. During 2015–2017 I was also the Resident Director for the UC Education Abroad Program in Spain, where I had the great opportunity to observe and interact with students learning Spanish in-situ. Dedico este libro amis padres, Juan José y Teresa, por su inmensa paciencia y apoyo. CRISTINA PARDO BALLESTER, PhD I am from Granada, Spain where I received a bachelor’s degree in translation and interpretation with a major in French interpretation and a minor in English translation. My passion for languages started in elementary school where I learned about French culture from my French teacher. This passion or languages led to spending an extensive amount of time in Belgium and to traveling around the world. Eventually, I settled in Reno, Nevada, where I received my M.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Nevada, Reno, while teaching Spanish language courses. I moved to New York City to teach Spanish and French at various high schools. My teaching experiences led me to complete my PhD in Hispanic Linguistics with an emphasis in second languageacquisition fromtheUniversity of California, Davis. I am currently an Associate Professor of Spanish in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Iowa State University. During 2007 to 2015, I was also the Spanish Language Program Coordinator. In 2010, I started to work as a co-director of a Study Abroad Program in Valencia, Spain. The experiences of my teaching and directing a Study Abroad program helped me to write and improve this second edition of Pura vida . This textbook, Pura vida , represents my commitment to language learners, and my passion for teaching the culture and the language of the Spanish- speaking world. Dedico este libro a Albert y a nuestra hija Olympia por sus sonrisas y cariños. © Courtesy of Norma López-Burton © Courtesy of Dylan Chuldjian-Pardo © Courtesy of Tony Mastres, UCSB