Central’s Conversational Spanish teaches basics

CASA GRANDE – For more than 20 years Mary Marrinan-Menchaca has created a comfortable atmosphere for second-language learners by serving cookies instead of tests to her students.

On Saturdays this fall at Central Arizona College’s Corporate Center in Casa Grande, Marrinan-Menchaca will churn those ingredients in her three-credit course Conversational Spanish.

“This is a non-academic and non-grammar-based course that utilizes the Command Spanish methodology and texts,” Marrinan-Menchaca explained. “It assumes no prior knowledge of Spanish and concentrates on speaking, listening and understanding. It is functional and practical. It is suitable for employers as well as for community members.”

Conversational Spanish (SPA 115 / Course # 10469) is a three-credit class that will be held from 1-3:30 p.m. beginning Aug. 23. The course will run through Dec. 13 and is part of the Weekend College program that was launched by Central Arizona College last year.

While Marrinan-Menchaca also teaches high-level Spanish courses that consist of the proverbial battery of tests and homework, Conversational Spanish is strictly designed to open the door to a new country in a comfortable environment.

The classes could be used as transferable electives or possibly by teachers needing continuing education credits.

“The continuing arrival of Spanish-speaking immigrants to the United States constitutes one of the most unique and dramatic immigration events in our nation’s history,” Marrinan-Menchaca explained. “Throughout the nation, in both rural and urban areas of virtually every state, there are significant Hispanic populations that speak primarily Spanish.”

Marrinan-Menchaca has more than two decades of experience teaching languages and has spent the last 11 years teaching French and Spanish at Central Arizona College. She grew up in Minnesota with a grandmother who spoke French which became her primary language.

She has a master’s degree in bilingual/multicultural education from Northern Arizona University and has been a certified administrator and instructor of the Command Spanish Occupational Language programs since 1998.

“This conversational Spanish course has been created to fill an ever-growing need in our area,” Marrinan-Menchaca explained. “It seeks to build bridges of understanding and trust between English-speaking people and their Spanish-speaking neighbors. The overall goal is to prepare English-speaking people to speak and understand small amounts of general and basic Spanish found in most routine interchanges in daily life – both on the job and in the community.”

The class also will provide basic cultural information with the goal being to educate and inform participants about some of the unique aspects of the Hispanic culture in the region.

For more information about Conversational Spanish contact Marrinan-Menchaca at (520) 494-6608, or by e-mail at [email protected].