PCAL Modern Languages

Spanish 101 - Elementary Spanish I

Spanish 102 - Elementary Spanish II

Spanish 201 - Intermediate Spanish I

M.A. in Spanish, University of Northern Iowa

Yertty VanderMolen is a native of Peru and her first language is Spanish. Before coming to the United States in 2004, she was an English teacher in her home country. She taught English to children and adults at several language institutes and high schools in Trujillo, Peru. She also took a seven-month Methodology Course for the Teaching of Foreign Languages through Universidad de Piura, Peru. Before coming to WKU, Ms. VanderMolen served as an instructor for Spanish at Luther College in Iowa for nine years. This is Ms. VanderMolen’s second year as Spanish Instructor at WKU Glasgow and her first year as Dual Credit teacher. She also serves as the Dual Credit Liaison for various high schools in the area. Besides her teaching experience in the U.S., she finds serving the community to be an inspiring and enriching experience. She has used her professional expertise as an interpreter, helping Hispanic people at the local library, the Decorah and Postville Free Clinics and the Farmer’s market in Iowa. After the immigration raid in Postville, Iowa on May 2008, Ms. VanderMolen helped create a database for the people taken in the raid. In Spring 2012, Ms. VanderMolen co-led a Mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala with Luther College students. At WKU, she coordinated the first Festival Cultural Hispano at WKU Glasgow. In May 2014, she created a high school Spanish Teachers Group named “Manos a la Obra”. In relation to her professional development in 2014, she participated in an Advanced Workshop in Legal Translation for Bilingual Professionals, and a four-day ACFTL OPI Familiarization and Training Workshop. She is active in the scholarship of teaching, having given a presentation at the Kentucky World Language Association, and presented a paper at III Congresos Internacionales de Literatura Hispánica in Cartagena, Colombia, both in 2014. And she has recently started working as a free-lance medical interpreter in Glasgow for LNG Consulting, Inc.

I subscribe to the communicative method of language teaching, establishing true-to-life contexts in which students hear and read authentic Spanish on a daily basis. This gives students the opportunity to express themselves verbally and in writing.  I also utilize the total physical response (TPR) method of language teaching. It is based on the coordination of language and physical movement. I am also a believer that cultural awareness is an essential component when learning a foreign language, therefore I regularly expose students to my culture and the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries by using not only textbooks, but also class presentations filled with my own personal/cultural experiences in the United States and my native Peru.  I find all these resources useful, motivating, and entertaining in keeping students alert and interested in the subject at all times. Additionally, the use of technology and the internet are valuable assets in the language classroom. One of the great advantages of web-based activities is their flexibility.  Students have access to these resources at all times and may use them for practice, review or in preparation for an evaluation.