In Dr. Krzys’s Spanish Class, Everybody Learns
By Jeff Ostroth
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
“You have homework!?” That’s the reaction some people have when Florence Misurell tells them she’s taking a Spanish class every Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.—and has to do homework for it.
“My response is, ‘Of course I have homework,’” says Florence, a retired French and German high school teacher. “It’s the only way to learn.”
And if there’s one common trait among the 30-plus people who meet each week for the conversational Spanish class taught by their fellow Seabrook resident, Dr. Richard Krzys, it’s an eagerness to learn.
“We have people who are native Spanish speakers, we have people who started out not knowing a word of Spanish, and we have those who’ve had two years in high school or a year in college,” says Richard, a retired professor of Library Science with a lifelong love of Spanish.
Yet despite these individual differences, the class works.
Video and Discussion
The class—or group as some prefer—began meeting last September. “I was amazed at the number of people who signed up and how Richard retained their interest in it,” says participant Russell Holt. “And it’s largely the way he presents it.”
Every other week, Richard shows a Spanishlanguage story on video, followed by a discussion. While “Spanglish” is permitted among beginners, Richard encourages his students to speak Spanish as much as possible.
The next week, the class breaks up into small groups for further discussion of the prior week’s video and to go over the week’s homework.
Between classes, people often meet on their own. Esther Torres, who came to the U.S. from Puerto Rico many years ago, tutors some of the other students. “I get together with some of them after dinner, and teach them the pronunciation,” she says.