Bones (pronounced boh-ness, a Catalan word which means "Greetings")! My name is Matthew. I am a 22 year old English teacher from Kearny, New Jersey, which is about 7 miles west of Manhattan in New York City. I am very proud of my roots, both having grown up in one of the most culturally diverse places in the world, and having been raised by both Cuban and American family. I went to college at Davidson College, which is near Charlotte, North Carolina. There, I studied Linguistics and Arabic. I did my senior thesis about using community-based learning to teach Spanish to high school and college students who speak Spanish at home.
Because of my fascination with languages, I decided to move to Andorra for a year. Despite being one of the smallest countries in the world, it is home to an education system that teaches in four languages: Catalan (the official language), Spanish, French, and English. Here, I teach English as a recipient of the Fulbright Grant. My students are high school students, and would be equivalent to 9th and 10th grade in the United States. In addition to teaching, I am learning Catalan, taking lots of hikes in the mountains around Andorra, and visiting nearby cities and towns in Spain and France.
I am so excited to share this experience with you this school year, and hope you learn a lot about Andorra. It is such a beautiful and exciting place which to most Americans is unheard of and easily overlooked on a map.
Want to learn how you could be a Fulbright Scholar like me? The Fulbright Program is the United States government's flagship international exchange program. Fulbrighters foster mutual understanding between the United States and partner nations, share knowledge across communities, and improve lives around the world. Learn more by clicking here!
