Juanita Rosa

Juanita Rosa was brought up in a household surrounded by the beauty of languages. She grew up bilingual, with Spanish as her first language and English as her second, which is where her love for languages first began.

Rosa decided she wanted to learn something new, so she turned to a new language — French.

“When I got to highschool, I thought, ‘Okay, I’m done with Spanish. I’ve had enough Spanish in my life, let’s try something new and different,’ and that’s where I discovered French,” Rosa said.

Upon entering college, Rosa participated in the Hollins Abroad Paris Program, which gave students studying French the opportunity to live in Paris for one semester or one year.

“I personally love French, obviously, as I’m a French teacher, so I decided to do the year-long program. So you start in January and you come back in December — calendar year,” Rosa said. “They gave us a questionnaire and asked us a series of questions of what we wanted in a host family. I personally wanted a family with kids; if they had pets that would’ve been great. They didn’t, but that was fine.”

She reminisces about her time in Paris and looks back on it with fondness.

“I ended up in a family with four small children. The youngest was four and the oldest was 13. They are the best teachers you can imagine because they have no fear, no shame in correcting you and so what little mistakes I did make in French, they were sure to correct me almost instantaneously,” Rosa said. “The parents were great because they were involved to help teach the French language, so if there was cultural stuff I didn’t know about, they helped me out.”

Rosa stresses the importance of knowing and learning a language because it enriches one’s life and allows one to connect with those from other cultures.

“The more languages you know, the more your perspective on life changes, and I think I’m more open-minded… I’ve lived it, but it’s been scientifically researched that that’s what happens — the more languages you know, the more open you are, and you see life differently. The more you know, the better you think,” Rosa said.

The Hollins Abroad Paris Program taught Rosa more than just French as a language; it also taught her independence and gave her selfconfidence to solve problems and take care of herself.

“On a personal level, it made me more resilient and [taught me] how to rely on myself, be responsible for myself...‘Okay, what am I gonna do with myself?’” Rosa said. “It makes you become more independent. You grow up and realize you can do more than you ever thought you could.”

Bridging cultures,

one language at a time

Rosa is grateful for the experiences, lessons and memories that the foreign language program has brought her. To those looking to learn a new language, Rosa offers some pieces of advice.

“Honestly, there’s no better way to learn a foreign language than to live it,” Rosa said. “On a daily basis at home, you’re speaking [the language you’re learning]. At school, you’re speaking it and studying history, politics, language, literature.”

After her time in the foreign exchange program, Rosa decided to try something different, so she enlisted in the military. Rosa dedicated 10 years of her life — August 1992 to 2003 — to the United States Air Force. She spent half of it in active duty and the other half as a reservist, one who is enrolled in the military but still living a normal civilian life.

“I miss the structure. I miss the discipline. I miss getting up in the morning and knowing I don’t have to pick something to wear because I have to wear a uniform,” Rosa said.

Her experience in the military as a linguist consisted of various military and civilian communications in Spanish and English. She began as a Spanish to English and vice versa translator. A situation in Haiti where they needed a French linguist led her to learning Haitian Creole.

“I loved being a linguist. It was really cool. You didn’t know what to expect from one day to the next,” Rosa said.

Later on, her life transitioned from the military to teaching. Though she chose this career as an adult, a passion for teaching always coursed through her veins.

“So I’ve always been a teacher, unofficially. Growing up, I used to play with my dolls; I was the teacher [and] they were my students,” Rosa said. “And then, in the Air Force, they give you certain jobs outside the specific duty that you’re assigned, and I was working in the education office, maintaining all of the materials for the linguists. And it’s just something I’ve always enjoyed.”

Her career in teaching began with her working in human resources. With this as a starting point, the switch to teaching was a smooth transition. Rosa decided to teach what she was passionate about: languages. Having learned French so thoroughly through the foreign exchange program, her preferred language to teach is French. In addition to teaching the French language, she also exposes French culture to her students. Rosa’s technique of requiring students to solely speak French in her class has helped them make major leaps of progress.

“We can talk in class, and we can talk to friends, but it has to be in French, and it’s fun to fool around like that, but it always has to be in French, and I feel like that has pushed us so much more than we [are] used to be pushed in, personally, my freshman and sophomore year. I think we’ve moved so much faster and so much further, solely [be]cause of that,” senior, current AP French student and French Honor Society president Andrea Riquezes-Gete said.

Rosa appreciates teaching high school because of her students’ eagerness to learn. High school students know enough that they can hold sophisticated conversations, but she is still able to teach them important life lessons.

“I really enjoy students at this age because there’s still the curiosity, the interest in discovery, and I still feel like I know a little something that they don’t that I can share,” Rosa said.

Her teaching style and personality have

helped students believe in their ability to learn new languages and realize that there is no limit to what they can learn.

“...In the one year I had with Madame Rosa, it really showed me that I could actually learn French, and I could keep working on it, and if I just practiced and practiced and practiced even if I wasn’t in a French class, I could really expand [on] what I knew,” junior, former AP French student and French Honor Society historian Anaïs Roatta said.

Apart from fluently speaking Spanish, French and English, and having knowledge of Haitian Creole, she also has knowledge of German and Hebrew.

Majority of Rosa’s life has been influenced by her love for multiple languages and cultures. Language serves as glue for people of different cultures and helps one appreciate other societies.

“You put people at ease when you let them express themselves in their native language,” said Rosa. “So the more you’re able to converse and dialogue with people, the better off we are in general as a world because communication is key.”

Priscilla Bermudez Copy Editor p.bermudez.thepanther@gmail.com

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