IN THE CLASSROOM
Lisabeth Conti
“
SO REWARDING. I’M NOT
JUST TEACHING THE
TRANSLATIONS; I’M
TEACHING CULTURAL
INTERACTION AND
RESPECT. OUR WORLD
NEEDS THAT.
TEACHING LANGUAGE IS
”
BRIDGING THE LANGUAGES BY EMMA CHRISTIANTELLI
“¡No pasa nada!” Trinity-Pawling Spanish teacher, Lisabeth Conti, lives and teaches by this motto. “It doesn’t have a direct translation,” she explained. “Essentially, it means ‘no worries.’ When something doesn’t go as planned, we say “¡no pasa nada!” There’s almost always a way to fix it.” Conti learned this flexible, worry-free style while teaching at a bilingual school in Camarma de Esteruelas, Spain. As a member of the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), Conti became an ESL teacher in the small town just outside of Madrid. “My students ranged from eighth to tenth grade. I was the teacher, but of course I learned just as much from them, if not more,” Conti shared. As an ESL teacher, not entirely fluent in Spanish at the time, Conti found her classroom to be a bridge between the languages, teaching—and learning—much more than vocabulary and grammar. “Language is more than just the words in each sentence. It’s the inflections, hand gestures, facial expressions…everything! The most important part of learning a language is listening. My students and I learned that together.” Conti graduated from New York University with a degree in Psychology and Gender Studies. She dabbled
16 TRINIT Y-PAWLING MAGA ZINE
in Spanish classes here and there, but didn’t have the chance to immerse herself in the language like she wanted. Joining CIEE did just that. It augmented her love for language and, perhaps more importantly, helped to solidify her calling to teach. “Teaching language is so rewarding,” Conti explained. “I’m not just teaching the translations; I’m teaching cultural interaction and respect. Our world needs that.” After her two-year stretch at the school in Camarma, Conti returned to her hometown of Pawling to continue spreading her love for language. She joined TrinityPawling’s Modern Language Department in the summer of 2017 and brings her Camarma experiences into each lesson, connecting the two worlds. “It’s important to make learning a new language welcoming and reachable so that, no matter what, we keep the dialogue going,” Conti shared. “In language, there’s no such thing as perfection. Even fluent speakers make mistakes. ¡No pasa nada! That fluidity is something I weave into my lessons everyday. Ultimately, language should be a positive, fun experience. If my students are engaging with each other, laughing, and embracing their mistakes, I know I’m doing my job.”