Oak Forest HS Spanish II Honors Students Go Global

Students in Oak Forest High School Spanish II Honors teacher Danica Mathis’s class got a unique experience as they got to speak halfway across the world to students in Argentina. (l to r) Freshmen Allison Griffin and Kaitlyn Berglund asked questions about restaurants and where the Argentinian students liked to have their favorite meals, telling them that Kaitlyn liked to eat at Subway. All of this took place through the miracle of modern technology. Mrs. Mathis worked with the District #228 Technology Coach Jim Boswell and worked through ideas of various technologies to get the classes to be able to meet and landed on the idea of meeting through Google Hangouts. OFHS teacher Danica Mathis is the sister-in-law of Maestra Nathalie Mathis, who teaches English in Argentina in the city of Neuquén. She teaches at INPI Instituto Neuquino de Profesorado Inglés. Every Friday, Maestra Nathalie Mathis has a culture club. Although her students are university level English speakers, as they range in age from 18-20, the students were very kind to the OFHS beginning Spanish students and listened to the questions they asked in Spanish. The Argentinian students answered their questions in English. Students were fascinated that they spoke English with English accents. Students worked in groups of four and asked a variety of questions about students’ lives and about their favorite sports, and their country’s flag. Other questions focused on what their houses and their yards were like and the neighborhoods in which they live. Afterwards, the Argentinian students asked questions in Spanish to the OFHS students, but muy despacio, or very slowly. Mrs. Mathis said, “This was a very unique opportunity and it was my hope to give our students an unforgettable experience!” Based on the mutual laughter heard on both hemispheres of the globe during this experience, the students in both Argentina and in Oak Forest enjoyed their experience.