Although this year is Sr. Jason Normansen’s first year teaching Spanish at Jesuit High School, he has been passionate about language since he was in 7th grade.
In 2009, Normansen began teaching languages in Spain initially as a tutor to make money, however, later realized he enjoyed passing on his love for languages.
“I realized pretty quickly that I actually liked [teaching Spanish], and it was passing on something that I loved to other people, and that felt really meaningful.”
As a lifelong learner, Normansen is constantly adding new languages to his repertoire— collaborating with other bilingual Jesuit teachers to pick up phrases here and there.
“I have fun with a lot of languages. It’s just like in my pocket, I have ten sentences that I can have fun with from various cultures.”
Outside of teaching, Sr. Normansen loves to read, make music, and travel.
Normansen hopes that his students can overcome the fear of learning languages through his class, and use Spanish as a way to connect with others.
Normansen firmly believes that anyone who wants to learn a language, can, and the only limitation to learning is the students eagerness to learn.
“They’ll believe all their lives that they didn’t have a talent for it, but anybody who wants it can have it.”
Question Transcript (Quotes edited for clarity):
What do you want your students to know about you?
”I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy. I make music very regularly, piano, guitar, and I have written songs. I enjoy those hobbies that usually never show up in this environment.“
When were you first introduced to Spanish?
“I had my first Spanish class when I was in seventh grade, and I don’t know how much I had before that.”
When did you first start teaching spanish?
“I began teaching languages when I went to Spain in my twenties and needed a way to make some money while I was staying there. Being a tutor began to give me the idea of what it felt like to be a language teacher and I was making money to stay in the country, pay for rent, pay for food, and pay for fun!”
What is special about the language to you?
“It gives me access to countries where the people are speaking it, and it gives me access as I visit any place I can become very easily integrated in the community. I don’t feel like a tourist; I can become, in my mind, what I feel like as a local, very quickly.”
How many languages do you speak?
“Not including English, of course, I [speak] four languages; from Spanish, down to French, down to Portuguese, and finally, down to Catalan.”
What are you looking forward to and looking to achieve at Jesuit?
“I’m eager to have one really good year and then come back next year and build on something that was already well established. I just want to be a valued member of Jesuit for people trying to learn new languages, and I feel like that’ll come to pass little by little.”
