Claudia Sasse
Spanish Language and Culture Certificate
Claudia Sasse was a young teacher in Brazil when she met and married a Canadian. A few years later, in 2004, she and her husband and their young daughter, moved to Canada. Ever since she arrived in her new country, she has been steadfast in her plan to resume her teaching career.
Settling into a new country, then moving between provinces, has posed some career challenges for Claudia, but despite the setbacks, she acquired the necessary teaching certifications, and currently works full-time with the Calgary Board of Education.
Happy to be teaching again, Claudia set a new goal for herself – to someday teach in a Spanish bilingual program. To help her accomplish her goal, Claudia has completed Continuing Education's Spanish Language and Culture Certificate program.
"I loved the program," says Claudia. "The teachers were amazing and there were lots of activities that made you want to go to class."
Claudia completed her certificate program in two years, regularly commuting from Airdrie for evening classes, usually taking two courses per session.
Growing up in Brazil, Claudia's first language was Portuguese, and while she has always spoken some Spanish, she knew to be able to teach it, she would have to work on her language skills, especially writing and grammar.
After completing her certificate with Continuing Education, Claudia chose to go on and take the Spanish proficiency test (DELE) at the master's level, a program that is offered by the Spanish government.
"I did well and got my certification," she says. "Without the writing skills I learned at the U of C, I could not have done as well"
"I feel good about my fluency," says Claudia. "But I still practise by attending a Spanish conversation group."