Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 13, 1995 TAG: 9506130035
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: B. LYNN WILLIAMS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Occupation: Spanish teacher at Blacksburg Middle School and Christiansburg High School
Age: 55
Family: husband, Peter, five children, Karen, Carl, Paul, Glenn and Marianne
Hometown: Managua, Nicaragua
Last book read: "Learn to Speak Spanish," a text with CD-ROM
Hobbies: sewing, painting, creating stained glass, embroidery, crocheting
Favorite teacher in school: "Madre Maria, who taught business classes. She was a perfectionist and made me want to be the best that I could be."
Favorite community activity: working with the Montgomery County Christmas Store. Helping in the community has been important since Rony was a small girl in Nicaragua. Her parents instilled a lifelong obligation to help those less fortunate.
Recent accomplishment: Being awarded a Diploma Superior de Espanol by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. Recipients possess "a profound knowledge of the language and the capacity of language usage that enables a person to understand, speak and write with the ease and accuracy of a native speaker." Teachers who receive it earn the right to teach the language anywhere in the world. Rony also received a scholarship to study at the University of Salamanca, Spain. Only 100 Spanish teachers in the United States and Canada qualify for this honor annually.
When Myriam Rony learned the examination to qualify for the Diploma Superior would be held at George Washington University in Washington, she decided to take the difficult test. And she prepared herself for failure because many who take the all-day exam don't pass. But Rony did. And she used the exam as an opportunity to demonstrate something she feels passionate about - that Spanish spoken in Spain is essentially the same language as Spanish in the Americas. A type of language snobbery exists that implies Spanish spoken outside Spain's borders is inferior.
"I come from Central America, not from Spain, and sometimes there's a little misunderstanding about Spanish, whether it's a different language and people from Spain can understand people from Hispanic America," Rony explained softly. "So I thought, 'How do I explain to everyone that it's the same language?'"
"I thought if I had that diploma, people would stop asking me whether I spoke the same Spanish that people spoke in Spain. Because if the government of Spain tests me and says that I qualify to teach anywhere in the world, then it must be the same language."
The results of the test speak loudly and clearly. Rony passed all three parts of the lengthy intensive examination: reading comprehension and written expression; grammar and vocabulary; and listening comprehension and oral expression. The Spanish Embassy notified her of the achievement in March 1994.
Then came icing on the cake. This past March, Rony learned that she had been awarded a scholarship to participate in the Summer Institute on Spanish Language and Culture, held annually at the University of Salamanca July 3-21. In Spain, studying at the university is akin to a Frenchman being accepted at the Sorbonne. Rony said that she has known only two people who qualified to attend the institution.
The trip will be a family affair. Accompanying her to Spain will be her parents and several of her children. Rony's husband, Peter, in England for part of the summer, will join the family during the latter part of their stay. Rony is still a little in awe of her dual honors, but it's likely her students at Blacksburg and Christiansburg realize that they are well-deserved.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***