Spanish: a Life Skill (not just a class)

Dear Student:

I was a student once, maybe just like you, trying to get through my day with as little stress as possible. Back in 1991, my freshman year of high school, I took my very first Spanish class: Spanish 1. I didn't necessarily want to take a language class, but since I wanted an honors diploma, I knew I needed to take three years of the same language before graduation. I also figured that, if I was going to take three years of a language, I wanted to make sure it had real-life value for me. Growing up in Reno, Nevada, with so many native Spanish speakers around me, I felt Spanish was the most valuable language class I could take.

Since high school, I have gone on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in Spanish with an emphasis in pedagogy (teaching methodologies) while studying under professors from just about every Spanish-speaking country in the world and doing two study abroad programs to Mexico and Spain. I have also taken numerous personal trips through Mexico, Perú, Bolivia, Colombia and Guatemala (five of which I guided my own students on), and now I impart my experience and expertise to you though my book series De cabo a rabo.

Today you are taking a Spanish class, maybe to fulfill a graduation requirement like I did, but before you know it, you may be traveling the world, speaking Spanish to native speakers and, who knows, perhaps someday becoming a Spanish teacher yourself to pay it forward like your Spanish teacher has! I cannot speak to the value of every course you are being encouraged to take in school, but I can tell you, from the heart, that learning Spanish, if you take it seriously as a life skill, can open so many doors in your life in ways you can only imagine today. Good luck ... I'm rooting for you! ~ David Faulkner

Dear Educator:

I am truly honored that you have chosen to trust my De cabo a rabo series to be the backbone of your Spanish language courses. Publishing this series and throwing my hat in the ring to compete head-to-head with the big textbook publishing houses has been daunting, to say the least, but constantly improving the series to make it the absolute best resource for Spanish-language programs like yours has been my goal since the beginning.

Unlike the authors hired by the big textbook companies, I use my own books and additional resources to teach my own Spanish classes, and every improvement I have made over the years has been to better support my own students’ learning, so you and I are in this together and I am always available for support as you need it: david@FlashforwardPublishing.com / www.DavidFaulknerBooks.com