' U tu Y £ January 26’2005
^^LACKAMASp^fif
«J
ove for language fuels instructor
I Wilson
•:ckamas Print
, l’t realize I, was in love with
j’ said Clackamas French
Heidi Cropsey, “until I
(Conversational French night
; World War II, Cropsey’s
engineer, worked with the
distance, going ahead of the
I American poops to gath-
l supplies. Since many of
nee workers were actually
[nd many of these women
ten, her father learned count-
h nursery songs and thymes
ftual French This is how
[was first introduced to the
f h bom in Oregon, Cropsey
rral years in Peru—as well
other places—as a child
father’s work brought him
nily to that country.
I had to learn Spanish so
d talk with mylittle friends,”
(¡ey. “Every teacher has their
n experience’ [with a lan-
had [learned] it so young
isciously that I wasn’t at all
■began as a night class at
bmmumtvECollege eventu-
' ie an opportunity to teach at
sis.
i(CC] I found out I not only
¡ach, but I loved the immer-
am ... it has so much life
lion,” Cropsey said
umersion method of leam-
Trüman Anderson Clackamas Print
French instructor Heidi Cropsey (bottom right) wbrks closely with her French students (from
left) David Ramirez and Kate Wagner, with the assistance of French tutor Susan Witherspoon.
ing language is that students, upon
entering die classroom, hear only the
language they are learning; barely
any English is spoken during class
hours. Clackamas has an immersion
program for its French classes called
‘Trench in Action.”
‘“French in Action’ was exact
ly the way I wanted to teach,”
said Cropsey. “Immersion is real
ly important in language ... it’s
very interactive, and the more
interactive it can be the better.”
“Madame Cropsey”—as her stu
dents call her—has devoted a lot of
effort to expanding the French pro
gram.
In 1998 she and her class started
the French Club.
“It was founded by a very enthusi
astic group,” said Cropsey, laughing.
“And now we have a lot of support
on campus.”
She tries to have a French table set
up as often as possible with a native
speaker interacting with students in
French
There is also International Day at
the college. The celebration includes
cultural presentations, arts and crafts
and ethnic foods from different
countries. The French, German and
Spanish students are active partici
pants in this celebration.
“I love to give students the chance
to perform and show off French cul
ture in a nice way,” Cropsey said.
Thanks to Cropsey’s guidance
and some serious fundraising by the
French club, two French students were
able to visit France and Switzerland in
the fell of2003.
Cropsey would like to see this
become a regular occurrence.
“We want to start a little exchange
program,” she said. “I’d love to
give students the chance to go [to
France].”
Cropsey has helped set up a small
emergency fund for needy French stu
dents and is even hoping to establish
a full-blown scholarship sometime in
the future.
About lhe French program she
said, “It’s funny because it’s such a
steady program, but it’s never boring.
Every single year the class seems
entirely new and fresh to me. Each
group has its own different needs and
interests ... Education is so fascinat
ing.”
Cropsey is determined to continue
pushing her students , to do their very
best.
“The feet is that people are so cre
ative and they don’t realize it some
times,” she said. “They don’t realize
how much they can create and do ...
people should be encouraged [to real
ize that], maybe even pushed a little.”
plando nuestro idioma: Demos la Bienvenida al Espanol
The first of a weekly Spanish-language column
a Martinez
ckamas Print
os la bienvenida al
<1en éstajnovena edi-
I su periodico escolar
¿mas Print” dando a
un articulo en espa-
r primera vez en la
de este periòdico
til, un articulo donde
sprender coisas nuevas,
emente comentaras lo
itmpre habías querido
¡Eque por falta de el idi
llica te habías atrevido
iar-
' ,
, articulo está echo
para los Hispanos, para los
nuestros, para la gente que
viene de donde venimos, come
lo que comemos y habla como
nosotros “Los latinos” y todos
aquellos otros que se sienten
y viven como tales, “Nuestra
ge.”
Los
Hispanos
somos
muchos, y cada vez nos esta
mos dando a conocer más y
más. Expresémos lo que pen-
sámos y sigamos luchando
contra las barreras del idi
oma, porque detrás de esa gran
pared esta nuestro éxito, que
poco a poco iremos forjando
con paciencia y constancia.
Cultura, tradiciones, cos
tumbres, y gastronomía son
algunos de los factores que
identifican a nuestra comu
nidad Hispana. Sus países
los representan, sus trajes
típicos y su acento, en todos
lados se encuentran, desde
el sur de América hasta el
norte de Europa, siempre en
algún lugar habrá un Hispano,
Puertoriqueño, Colombiano,
Mexicano,
Cubano,
o
Guatemalteco que con
su
trabajo, lengua y color de la
piel nos pongan muy en alto.'
Siempre estarán ahi, cada que
se necesite un hombre que dé
su vida por el trabajo y por
sacar adelante a su familia un
Hispano levantara la mano y
con su esfuerzo dará su ejem
plo.
Con cualquier empleo y en
cualquier lugar trabajan muy
duro y casi sin descansar, pero
siempre con la frente en alto
luchando por su familia y su
bandera, lavando los platos en
los que muchos comen, limpi
ando las calles por cualquier
rincones, haciendo comida,
trabajando el campo, construy
endo, o enseñando pero siem
pre y ante todo el Hispano se
hace identificar y se abre paso
ante la sociedad.
Sientance libres de man
dar sus comentarios, aquí a
su espacio de información, en
donde en cada edición dare
mos consejos e informaremos
de eventos que están por venir
en nuestra comunidad Latina.
Y en éste su primer artícu
lo en Español el “Clackamas
Print” les abre éste espacio
que será publicado cada miér
coles.
Queremos saber lo que
opinas y como se sienten a
cerca de éste proyecto; com-
muniquense con nosotros al
503-657-6958 con la exten-
cion 2309 y déjenos saber su
opinión. Porque recuerden
este será su espacio y nosotros
serémos su voz.