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Canfield Spanish teacher from Honduras learns as he teaches.
CANFIELD
A Canfield High School Spanish teacher from Honduras is learning a second language alongside his students in the classroom.
Dennis Martinez, who has been teaching for 12 years, said when he came to the U.S. at 19 years old, he knew no English.
“In Honduras, we had to take English for four years. It was mandatory, but it was very basic. To be honest, I didn’t have any interest for it. I would just study for the tests,” Martinez said. “Then when I came here I was like, ‘Uh oh,’ but I was in the middle of a classroom surrounded by native speakers, so that helped a lot. I guess you just learn. I’m still learning. Learning a second language is a long process.”
Students said knowing that Martinez still is learning his second language makes him relatable.
When he first started teaching, Martinez said he had a problem with slang and didn’t know what students meant unless they were speaking proper English.
Victoria Pacheco, a senior, said she had a similar problem coming from a Spanish-speaking family, confusing the Spanish slang with proper Spanish.
“He’ll say, ‘No, that’s not right. Say it this way,’” Victoria said. “It’s cool how easily he corrects us and just amazing how fast he does it.”
Jenna Troxil, Canfield freshman and student aide for Martinez, said she likes teaching Martinez slang. Recently, Jenna said she taught him the phrase “on fleek.”
Senior Angelica Fernandez said from a cultural standpoint, as someone who also comes from a Spanish-speaking family, she enjoys being able to talk with Martinez about similar family traditions.
To stress the culture to his students, Martinez said he has students watch a lot of videos from Spanish-speaking countries and talk about them in Spanish after viewing them.
“Since I came from one of them [Spanish-speaking countries], I use myself as an example, and they always have a lot of questions,” Martinez said.
Victoria said she thinks it’s more beneficial to have Martinez as a Spanish teacher from a Spanish-speaking country than a teacher from the U.S.
“He has the real feel of it. He knows it [Spanish] because he had it from the beginning rather than someone who learned it in the U.S. ... He knows it in-depth,” Victoria said.
Martinez said it makes his job fun when students have such a high level of interest in his class.
“It makes our [teachers’] jobs easier because they [students] put in a lot of effort,” Martinez said. “I like being around kids – they’re fun, and I like teaching my native language.”
Martinez said although he enjoys his relationships with his students, he still focuses on challenging them so that when they leave his classroom, they have an understanding of the language.
Students recently were tasked with the assignment of having a 10-minute discussion with Martinez, in Spanish, about a movie they watched.
“I just want them to think – not memorize things,” Martinez said. “What’s the point of learning Spanish if you don’t know how to use it in conversation?”