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My name is Susan Catherine Brown, and I was raised
in Ann Arbor, Michigan
before moving to Clearwater,
Florida at the age of sixteen
with my mother so that we could be closer to her parents.
How I
came to do what I do:
My first experience with a foreign language was in
elementary school at the age of twelve. I spent one lunch period a week
with a French woman who had volunteered to teach me and a few other
petrified, brown-bag clutching students a few words of French. Looking
back, it’s a miracle that I continued on with my French studies! All
I remember from my first exposure to French was the instructor forcing an
eraser into my hand while commanding “Efface le tableau!”
I remember sitting down with my friends in order
to choose our courses for our first year in junior high. Since we had the
opportunity to study a foreign language, I chose French because I simply
loved the sound of it. I also was also intrigued by the idea of being able
to converse in a language completely different from my own. I thought that
speaking another language would actually help me become someone else! This
may have stemmed in part from my fascination with all things magical. (As a
child, my favorite T.V. shows were Bewitched
and I Dream of Jeannie.)
My French teacher in Junior High was a woman
named Madame McCray. To this day, she is my all-time favorite teacher. My
two favorite memories of her are when she would read to us out of Le Petit
Prince and when she accepted my extra credit answer of “je n’ai pas oublié” even though she had asked for the
translation of “I remembered” on a test. One year, Madame
McCray also took us on a trip to Montréal,
Canada.
I first visited France as a junior in high
school with my fellow classmates, including my best friend (both then and
now). That would be the first of many trips to the Hexagon for me. I will
never forget sitting at a sidewalk café and actually engaging in a
conversation with the French! This experience cinched it for me! After
receiving my A.A. from St. Petersburg
(Junior) College, I majored in French at the University of South
Florida, graduating Magna Cum Laude.
As an undergrad at USF, I took an introduction
to linguistics course that I thoroughly enjoyed. This course intensified my
fascination with language as I learned about both the universals of
language as well as the diversity of ways in which these universals are
expressed in individual languages. (I still have that textbook!) That being
said, I hadn’t thought about pursuing a master’s in linguistics
until the professor of this course returned a test to me at the top of
which he had written, “Would you be interested in our M.A. program in
Linguistics?”
The decision to pursue a master’s degree
in linguistics opened me to the world of teaching English as a second
language, and what a wonderful world it is! Aside from brief foray into
working in the legal support field which began while I was living in France,
I have been teaching ever since I completed my master’s with
distinction in 1992. From 1993 to 2001, I lived in France, both in Paris and in Aix-en-Provence.
While in the south of France,
I had the tremendous opportunity to continue my studies by obtaining a
post-graduate degree (a D.E.A.) in linguistics with honors from the Université de Provence. My
initial conceptions of what learning a second language would do for me were
not far of the mark: my view of myself and my place in this world would be
completely different had I not embarked on this journey so long ago. My
world has become smaller yet vastly more expansive as a result.
Here I
am!
To say that I am thrilled to be a member of the
EAP faculty at FCCJ would be a gross understatement! By obtaining this
position, I am living my dream.
My
philosophy of education:
As a graduate of a community college who
continued her education through the graduate level, I am a firm believer in
applying oneself and maximizing available resources. St. Petersburg (Junior) College gave me
the tools I needed to begin and to further my career.
As an instructor, I believe in encouraging
students to strive for success, whatever their individual goals may be, as
well as to continue to reach beyond any real or perceived limitations. I
endeavor to accomplish this by providing a comfortable yet professional environment
on both the group and individual levels. I also recognize the different
learning styles of students and enjoy researching, developing, and applying
new methods in order to become an even more effective teacher.
The best
way to contact me:
In person or by phone during my office hours, or
anytime at sbrown@fccj.edu.
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