(Me, with "Pupi" at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain)

  About me...

I am a native of California, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I received my Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, and came to Cal State San Marcos in the Fall of 1998.

My area of expertise is Spanish linguistics and second language acquisition. I have published a number of articles on adult language learning, and I also have authored and coauthored several textbooks for the teaching of Spanish.

Of course I love languages, especially Spanish!, and I truly love sharing my passion for Spanish with my students. My teaching is predicated on the simple notion that learning in general, and learning languages in particular are great fun.  I try to make students see how fun they can be by using a great deal of media, lots of cultural content, active learning games and tasks, and a good dose of humor.

Those who know me know that I am a very "type-A", high energy kind of person, so I have a lot of active interests outside of work. My two favorites are dancing and mountain biking. 

Some of my favorite mountain bike rides around San Diego are Elfin Forest, Big Laguna, Lake Morena, and Mission Trails. In 2001, I completed a 14-day, 500 mile mountain bike trip across the north of Spain called the Camino de Santiago. It is a historic Christian pilgrimage to the church at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, where the remains of Saint James lie. The route is packed with beautiful churches and monuments, incredible mountain bike trails (though I swear the whole Camino is uphill both ways!), fabulous people, and of course, lots and lots of vino y jamón serrano!!!. It was such an incredible journey in so many different ways that I am going to do it again this coming Summer.

In addition to dancing and mountain biking, I also like to hike, ski, rollerblade, go disco bowling, and most recently I went sea kayaking.

Traveling is also a passion for me. I have traveled extensively through the U.S.,Mexico, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Belize, all before digital cameras :-( , and Spain.

 I just got a digital camera, so I've begun to indulge another interest, photography (Check out my pics from Northern Spain).

On the more passive side, I love to watch good movies, listen to music, and read. One of my favorite directors is Pedro Almodóvar from Spain. Some of my favorite Almodóvar movies are:

  • La ley del deseo

  • Todo sobre mi madre

  • Habla con ella

  • Átame

  • Matador

  • La flor de mi secreto

I just saw his latest film, La mala educación, which was also quite good. Some other Spanish language movies that I recommend are:

  • Y tu mamá también

  • Como agua para chocolate

  • No se lo digas a nadie

  • La historia oficial

  • Belle epoque

  • Fresa y chocolate

  • Jamón, jamón

  • Abre los ojos

  • Amores perros

Finally, some other random movies that I love (in no particular order) are:

  • Europa, Europa

  • Life is Beautiful

  • Being John Malcovich

  • Cinema Paradiso

  • Eat, Drink, Man, Woman

  • Ferris Buehler's Day off

  • Fast Times at Ridgemont High

  • Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

  • One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

  • To kill a Mockingbird

 I read a lot of non-fiction, but also enjoy good fiction. Currently I'm reading Paula, which is a novel written by Isabel Allende about the death of her only daughter.

I really enjoy meeting my students and finding out more about them. If you are a current or prospective student, please stop by my office and introduce yourself!