H-ton AP Spanish Students Make Friends in Ecuador
Students in Huntington High School’s Advanced Placement Spanish class have some new friends in the South American country of Ecuador. The teenagers participated in a Skype video conference and have been swapping e-mails across continents since early last fall.
“The students in the two classes have been exchanging e-mails with one another in the target language since the beginning of the school year,” Huntington teacher Mercy Peña said. “One of the sections of the AP Spanish exam is to respond to an e-mail, therefore this activity gives them some practice in writing e-mails in Spanish. Last year, students also participated in e-mail exchanges with Ecuador, but we didn’t get to do Skype.”
That changed in December when the Huntington students engaged in a Skype video conference with students in teacher Stefanie Perez’s English as a Foreign Language class in Ecuador’s Nuestra Familia High School in Cuenca.
“The students in AP Spanish introduced themselves in Spanish to their peers in Ecuador, and the Ecuadorean students did the same, but in English,” Ms. Peña said. “Then they asked cultural questions about each country.”
The AP Spanish students asked how Christmas and New Year are celebrated in Ecuador. The Ecuadorean students explained their tradition of the “Pase del Ninõ” and how the celebration reaches its peak at midnight on Christmas Eve. “They also explained about the burning of an effigy at midnight on New Year’s Eve to represent what they’re getting rid of in the old year,” Ms. Peña said. “One of the cultural activities that our students shared was the popularity of going to Times Square to see the ball drop at midnight.”
In past years Ms. Peña's AP Spanish classes have been e-pals and Skype partners with students in New Jersey AP Spanish classes, but the latest effort involving teenagers from South America has taken the initiative to a new level.
“Students in both countries found this to be an interesting, dynamic and unique way to practice the target culture and language,” Ms. Peña said. “A few of the students have become close friends with their e-pals and have written more elaborate and detailed letters than the rest of their peers. All of the letters are shared with their teachers via ‘CC’ so students can get credit and for supervision.”
The Huntington students participating in the Skype and ePal exchange initiative include David Alvarado, Bryant Benitez, Emily Biblow, Tyler Burton, Seydi Castellon, Jamie Castillo, Samuel Dejoie, Jesse Feldman-Stein, Collin Francis, Irma Granados, Lenni Joya, Jack Kitzen, Ashley Lopez, Leonardo Martinez, Ashley Melgar, Lily Morris, Matthew Rosenbauer, Maralin Ulloa and Leah Butz.
The Nuestra Familia High School students involved in the electronic exchange include Catalina Ávila, Sofía Cardoso, Ana María Cordero, Juan Miguel López, Gabriela Marín, Doménica Mejía, Ana Cristina Merchán, Patricio Miranda, Natalia Moncayo, Juan José Moncayo, Gustavo Morales, Emilia Orellana, Irene Orellana, Leonardo Orellana, Priscila Palacios, Martin Patino, Bruno Reyes, Camila Rodríguez, Andrés Sánchez and Michelle Serrano.
“Now AP Spanish students, and students who will be in AP Spanish next year, are exchanging e-mails with new e-pals from Miami Platja in Catalonia, Spain,” Ms. Peña said. “Students are learning from their e-mail exchanges that Spain has different languages and cultures that make each region unique. Once students get to know their e-pals better, we may set-up a Skype conference with the students from Spain and their English as a Foreign Language teacher Martha Miller. Hurray for technology in the classroom!”