SiS Newsletter - January 2010

Recent News January, 2010

• Bill for fy 2010 will favour Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
President Obama signed on December 16 the omnibus spending bill sent to him by the United States Congress for FY 2010 appropriations. Read more...

• Spanish instruction continues growing.
According to a recent survey from the Center for Applied Linguistics entitled “Foreign Language Teaching in U.S. Schools”, Spanish language instruction in American schools has grown well above other languages. This study does not cover college language programs. Read more...

• New guidelines of the spanish
The previous edition of this work dates from 1931. In these 80 years Spanish language has changed enough and the 4000 pages of the book bear this out. Read more...

SiS Student Ambassadors

• Kenneth Negy, Student Ambassador at the University of Central Florida.

SiS on the road

• Study in Spain will be traveling throughout the US again this academic year.

Amigos del español

• Robert Redford

Institution Profile

• Universidad Carlos III

Interview Lounge

• Benjamin Smith

Bill for fy 2010 will favour Hispanic-Serving Institutions

President Obama signed on December 16 the omnibus spending bill sent to him by the United States Congress for FY 2010 appropriations.

Federal programs for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are undergoing a historic increase in their budgets. Undergraduate institutions will increase their budget in 25.9%, reaching the $117,429,000 (from $ 93 million in FY 2009). On the other hand, graduate institutions funding will be $10.5 million. The Omnibus Spending Bill also includes $6,520,000 designated to the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities Program (HSIAC).

This is good news both for beneficiary institutions as for students who want to learn Spanish, since they will have more opportunities and options to learn the way that better suits them. It opens doors to the teaching of Spanish in a country where much of the population has Hispanic origins.

Spanish instruction continues growing.

According to a recent survey from the Center for Applied Linguistics entitled “Foreign Language Teaching in U.S. Schools”, Spanish language instruction in American schools has grown well above other languages. This study does not cover college language programs. Increasingly, children learn Spanish in their schools and are fluent in this language, which puts this language in a privileged position compared to others.

This is good news for Spain and Latin America that have seen how the teaching of Spanish has risen from 79% to 88% in the last 10 years in primary school and has maintained an impressive 93% in colleges.

Other languages that also have a presence in American schools are French, German, Japanese, Russian, Chinese and Arabic.

New Guidelines of the Spanish

The previous edition of this work dates from 1931. In these 80 years Spanish language has changed enough and the 4000 pages of the book bear this out.

This is a Spanish language map produced by the Royal Spanish Language Academy and 21 other sister organizations in Latin America, United States and other countries.

This book is a compilation of the wealth of the Spanish language. It notes, for example, different ways of saying the same word depending on context, environment or social class. This is given by the enormous expansion of the language throughout the world. That is why, in this new edition have been overturned efforts to emphasize the linguistic habits of Latin America, the region where most Spanish-speakers actually live.

Kenneth Negy, Student Ambassador at the University of Central Florida

Kenneth Negy is SIS Student Ambassador at the University of Central Florida. Here is his experience in his own words:

I was deeply honored when I was chosen to succeed the previous ambassador at UCF, especially considering that I was asked to take over during my first semester of college. Coming from a Spanish-speaking family myself, it has been a privilege for me to be able to serve as a representative for Spain and for all Spanish-speakers in general.

Through the various activities I have done and plan to do over the next semester, my hope is to instill an interest in the students to travel abroad, specifically to Spain, and to help students develop their ability to speak the language. I hope to show Spanish movies, have various contests related to Spain, continue to hold Café Español sessions, and try to come up with new ideas in order to advance the SIS program at UCF.

I hope that by serving as ambassador, I will be able to advance my Spanish speaking abilities, develop invaluable leadership skills, and connect with my peers at the University of Central Florida through my love of Spain and the Spanish language.

Study in Spain will be traveling throughout the US again this academic year

The 2009-10 academic year will once more have the Study in Spain program participating in the most important education fairs and events.

Since its opening, the Embassy of Spain-Trade Commission Miami, with the support of ICEX (Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade) and EDUESPAÑA have carried Study in Spain all across the US in an effort to promote international education in Spain.

The rewards have been undeniable, as Spain is the third preferred destination for American students worldwide.

This is a brief preview of the projected participation of Study in Spain. The dates and/or events may be subject to changes.

FEBRUARY
NABE, National Association Bilingual Education
FEB 03-06
DENVER, CO

AIEA, Association of International Education Administrators
FEB 14-17
WASHINGTON DC

Read more...

Robert Redford

Robert Redford came to fame as an outlaw and, movie legend or no, he sees himself as an outsider still. A good Spanish speaker, Redford lived five years in a little town in the south of Spain at the end of the fifties and grew up in south Los Angeles, surrounded by a Spanish community. Good friend of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

You grew up in a Spanish Community in Los Angeles, and lived in Spain for a long time, do you speak Spanish?
I do speak Spanish but I don't practice as much as I would like, so right now I don't speak as I used to in the past.

Do you have a favorite Spanish author?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a good friend of mine who helped me to develop The Motorcycle Diaries , the movie that Walter's Salles directed and I produced. I invited Marquez many times to Sundance to come to help start a Spanish speaking lab and he promised me to come if I was going to Cuba.

Is there a book from him that you like most of the others?
I liked all of them, but Hundred Years of Solitude is my favorite, and Love in the times of cholera is a great love story.

What types of books, or stories are you drawn to?
Part of me is drawn to the nature of sadness because I think life is sad and sadness is not something that should be avoided or denied. It's a fact of life, like contradictions are.

What you want to be remembered for?
I've thought about that. I would like to be known for the work I've done in films and the work I've done as a citizen. And that's fine with me, and with my family, I want to be known as a good father. And that's it. Beyond that it's just don't stop me. Let me keep doing what I want to do. Because there's a lot to be done, there are a lot of things I'd like to do, and I'm enjoying it. So that's all I have, I don't ask for title or award or anything like that. It's just to be acknowledged for what you do, maybe rather what you symbolize.

What do you do when not working?
I have a lot of interests. The Sundance Film Festival commands a lot of time. I have other interest that I like but there's nothing more interesting for me than the work I do in film, whether acting or directing. That is the most, that's' my day job. I also have the other life, an alternative life, just in the mountains and nature, and you therefore want to enjoy that. Then you build a mechanism for new artists, a community for artists, in theater and film and music, and eventually dance. Travel is another of my passions. There's nothing I love more than driving across this country.

How is independent film these days?
Independent film is getting better and better all the time, as are documentaries. I think documentaries are now at a place where they absolutely deserve an equal place in the market.

Universidad Carlos III

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) is a public funded university in Madrid, capital of Spain, founded in 1989. It provides specialized training and is a prime European research centre.

Carlos III is organized in three centers (Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Communication and Documentation, Faculty of Engineering) which provide more than forty undergraduate degrees as well as a wide variety of graduate programs.

The extensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs include a wide array of bilingual degrees which allow US students to pursue their studies in English. Complete information can be found at: http://www.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/home/studies

At the same time, US students who wish to learn Spanish or improve their level of Spanish during their stay, can enroll in one of the Spanish Courses and obtain a DELE (Diploma of Spanish as a Foreign Language).

In addition, the Hispanic Studies Program, which receives more than 200 US students each year, is aimed at international students who wish to broaden their knowledge of Spanish language and culture while enjoying an enriching academic experience of either one semester or a full academic year.

The outstanding full-time Carlos III faculty reflects the highest percentage of university professors receiving favorable evaluations from the Ministry of Science. In addition, ranks number one in Spain for research competitiveness according to the COTEC (Foundation for Technological Innovation) report, with some of its scientific research areas (e.g. economics) rated among the best in Europe in international rankings. All of their undergraduate programs are now adapted to the EHEA (European Higher Education Area) and all of its PhD programs have received the MC, a hallmark award certifying the high quality of a program, from the Ministry of Science.

On November 26th, 2009 the project Campus Carlos III was awarded International Campus of Excellence by the Ministries of Education and Science of Spain, in competition with 70 other higher education institutions.
The award was given because of "the high potential to achieve international excellence once put into practice the strategic project".
Among the objectives that Carlos III plans to achieve with the aim of this grant are: the promotion of postgraduate studies to 20 % of total, doubling housing capacity, developing 2nd phase of Science Park, recruitment of international professors of excellence and adaptation of infrastructures to sustainability and accessibility.

Complete information on our project can be found at: http://cei.uc3m.es/CampusCarlosIII/english/index.html

Benjamin Smith

Benjamin Smith is a professor of Spanish at the Minnesota State University at Moorhead. He has taught all levels of Spanish for over 15 years, which gives him a vast experience in the educational area. His years as a teacher have also given him the opportunity to interact in first person with students and share their experiences.

He currently intends to create a new program aimed at students wishing to study in Spain. It is thus an active collaborator of the various Study Abroad initiatives in Spanish speaking countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador and Spain.

When was the last time you have been to Spain?
December, 2009 as a part of the Eduespaña Trip to visit Spanish Institutions interested in establishing exchange agreements with American Universities.

What do you enjoy most about Spain?
The thing I enjoy most about Spain is the lifestyle. When I am in Spain, I eat healthier, I laugh more heartily, and I enjoy life more.

What do you think are the advantages of Spain as a destination for American students?
Spain has an advantage for students who want to learn Spanish in an immersion environment because there is less culture shock traveling to Spain. It is very easy to make the transition from living in the US to living in Spain. In addition, there is so much culture available to capture the students interests; from 1000 year-old castles to modern art museums within relatively close proximity.

Could you describe the Study Abroad programs your university has with Spain?
At this point, our university sends students to Spain on an individual basis. We are looking seriously into creating a summer program starting in 2011 for students in Toledo and Santiago de Compostela.

How satisfied are, in general, American students going to Spain?
Not only can they not stop talking about what a great time they had, but they are counting down the days until they are able to return.