John Mark Maust

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT JOHN MARK MAUST

Spanish and crossing cultures have always been an integral part of who I am. I was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and by the age of twelve had lived in four countries. I lived eight years in Honduras, seven in Ecuador and one in Costa Rica. I lived in New Orleans for eleven years before relocating to my current hometown, Jackson, TN.Because of my upbringing, I am both bi-lingual and trans-cultural. I not only speak Spanish, I also have insight into the traditions and culture behind idiomatic phrases and customs. While I was a teenager living in Ecuador, I began volunteering as a translator for groups of Americans who would come and do volunteer work for a week or two. I enjoy translating, and more recently I have worked as a freelance medical translator medical, legal, and educational settings. My familiarity with Spanish has been as much practical as academic, and most of my life I have been helping English speakers and Spanish Speakers connect with each other. Like translating, teaching a modern language is about making connections between people of divergent backgrounds. Although I am a Spanish teacher, I find that language does not exist in a vacuum. A language is integrated into the history, politics, and literature of those who speak it. As such, I find that working as a cross cultural consultant also touches on my interests in social studies and literature.My academic career has been interdisciplinary, with my undergraduate studies focusing on political science and history, while my graduate studies focused more on literature and linguistics. While at first it seems like a disjointed grouping, they are actually facets of the same human narrative. Since graduating with my MA, I have taught Spanish at the college level, in an elementary school, as well as an online AP Spanish class. I have also taught ESL for ReNEW Charter schools in New OrleansLearning a language is about making connections. Because of this I stress to my students the importance of finding a conversation partner outside of class (preferably a native speaker). Even a class entirely dedicated to conversation would at best give each student a fraction of the practice needed to become proficient. Nevertheless, learning a foreign language is just one thread in becoming interconnected with our modern globalized world. My responsibility as a foreign language instructor is to give my students the tools they need to step up and connect with cultures distinct from their own.