Carmen Sóñora Hernández

Carmen Sóñora Hernández

Department of Modern Languages
Teaching Fellow in Spanish

Contact details

Address
Ashley Building
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

I am native speaker of Spanish, and I was born in Granada, Spain. I have been teaching Spanish as a foreign language since 2009 in different institutions and universities. In January 2023 I became a Teaching Fellow in Spanish at the University of Birmingham delivering Spanish modules for the Languages for All programme and also working in the Digital First project.

Qualifications

  • Master’s degree in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language
  • Diploma in Education
  • BA in English Philology

Biography

I completed a bachelor’s degree in English Philology at the University of Granada, Spain, and spent one Erasmus year in the University of Leicester. Soon after I finished my studies, I moved back to Leicester where I was offered a job teaching Spanish in a languages’ academy. During the first two years working for this institution, I obtained a Diploma in Education.

In 2012 I was offered a teaching position in Languages at Leicester where I designed and delivered courses at all levels.  In 2015 I became a teaching fellow in Spanish at the University of Leicester where I worked for six years. During this period, I completed my Fellowship and had the wonderful experience teaching Spanish for Medics over the summer.

I also have experience teaching Spanish for Business to directors of Santander bank and delivering Spanish modules to undergraduates from Loughborough university.

One of my biggest challenges and self-rewarding experiences as a language teacher was working with children from different nationalities and difficult social backgrounds in a primary school where I had to adapt my methodology and resources. I also worked in a wellbeing programme aimed at adults who experienced severe and enduring health difficulties where I taught them Spanish to enable them to develop their interpersonal skills, functional skills and develop a sense of engagement belonging.

Teaching

I teach Spanish Levels 1 – 6 in Languages for All to undergraduate students and I’m currently working on the development and design of Spanish Level 3 blended course for the Digital First project.

Research

My areas of interest include:

  • Innovative methods and approaches in second language acquisition.
  • Use of technology and digital resources in language teaching and learning.

Other activities

I am an examiner / assessor for DELE (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) exams at the Cervantes Institute.