Welcome to Office Hours, a series brought to you by the Features section! In these articles, Argus writers speak to faculty, staff, and members of the administration about their interests, classes, and lives on and off campus. 

When Adjunct Associate Professor of Spanish and Education Studies Louise Neary traveled to Santander, Spain, a few years ago, she found herself in an unexpected situation: performing in a play. Neary was in Spain to take classes at Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo about how to use theater techniques in the classroom, and had no idea she’d actually be in a play, let alone perform in front of a large audience of students. 

“I was in plays in elementary school but not since then,” Neary said. “[We were] on the actual stage, and I was petrified of forgetting my lines. I think I did, but I wasn’t the only one!”

Whether Neary is stepping into the limelight in a foreign country, picking up an instrument for the first time in years, or teaching elementary Spanish to college students, she knows that it’s never too late to learn something new, even if it scares you at first. 

Neary has been teaching Spanish at the University since 2003, and has taught both “Introduction to Linguistics” and “Second Language Pedagogy” for the Education Studies Department. When I took Professor Neary’s “Elementary Spanish” class as a first year, I hadn’t been in a Spanish classroom since sixth grade. Learning a language as an adult is daunting! Yet, day by day, our class of rookie Spanish speakers learned to converse, read, and understand a new language despite our age and developmental stage in life. I went back to Professor Neary’s office hours for the first time since my first year to learn how she approaches her classes and how her own experiences inform the fun, wonderful classroom environment she creates. 

The Argus: How did you initially learn Spanish?

Louise Neary: I took it in school. I started in seventh grade, and then kind of just kept taking it. When I got to college, I was a double major [in] psychology and Spanish. I liked the language, so I just kept [speaking] it. It wasn’t really with any kind of plan. 

A: What led you to become a Spanish professor?

LN: I’ve always loved languages. After graduation I worked for the state of Massachusetts, and I was producing reports. I didn’t know what I wanted to do.  I went back and got a master’s in Spanish Language and Culture and took a class on second language acquisition. Suddenly I thought, ‘Whoa! There it is, there’s the combination of psycholinguistics and second language acquisition.’ In grad school, my fellowship was in a Spanish department teaching Spanish classes. It was initially just how I could afford graduate school.

A: I had so much fun in ‘Elementary Spanish.’ What made you want to teach this level?

LN: I think it’s very cool that adults can acquire another language. In ‘Elementary Spanish,’ in theory, you [start at] basically zero. By the end of [SPAN102], students are having conversations and reading authentic materials. 

A: Is there any advice that resonates with you?

LN: It’s related to my love of language and how complex language is. When I teach the linguistics classes, the first thing I try to impress upon students is how complex language is. It inspires me to think about the complexity of life in general. It helps me keep things in perspective and helps me be more empathic. 

A: What’s one thing you do outside of work that makes you happy?

LN: I spend time with my nieces and nephew. I feel really fortunate to have gone to all of their games and recitals. That brings me joy.

A: Do you or did you ever play a musical instrument?

LN: Yes! I played the flute. I was pretty good, actually. I can’t blame it on my parents, but I wish they hadn’t let me quit when I was a junior in high school. I still have [my flute], and I’ve just recently taken it out again. It turns out that I’ve forgotten everything and I have no sound, but that’s something I’ve been making myself try to do again.

A: What is the closest thing to real magic?

LN: That made me tear up because I’m thinking of the love of family and friends. 

A: What’s your favorite movie?

LN: ‘All About Eve’ has always been my favorite. ‘I detest cheap sentiment.’ I love that quote! 

A: In Spanish class, we listened to so many Spanish songs (my favorite was “Sueños”), and I still have some of them saved. Of the songs you play in Spanish class, which is your favorite?

LN: [“Coqui”] by Menudo (1982). 

A: What has being a professor taught you?

LN: It’s given me concrete examples of the maturation process of students. I love my classroom experience, but I feel like in advising when I’ve seen students from their first semester and see them all the way down the line, I see how transformative this period of time is and can be. It’s fascinating to see people discover new interests and follow different paths and change.

A: Any final words for [the University]?

LN: You know there’s the first-generation low-income organization here, and I’m a first-generation student. And I guess I’d be considered low-income. I didn’t know I was low-income, I think, until I got [to college]. I was thinking, ‘I have to do this alone and if I can’t there’s some sort of weakness,’ and that’s not the case. Obviously my experience is different from what people are going through now (I think it’s even harder now) but something that strikes me as still the same is this idea that you have to know how to do everything and you have to do everything yourself. You think that’s what being successful means, and it’s not. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Halle Newman can be reached at hnewman@wesleyan.edu. Send her an email to tell her whose office hours she should go to next!