Carla Suarez Soto is a second year student working towards a B.A. in Linguistics with an emphasis in Chinese and a minor in Italian. Having grown up speaking Spanish and English, she always had an itch to explore new languages and explore different cultures. At UCSB, she took advantage of the opportunity to do so. Currently, she is the community service chair for a UCSB organization called La Escuelita, which focuses on providing tutoring for children in Isla Vista as well as giving back to the community. During her time at UCSB she has had the opportunity to interpret at local elementary schools for parent teacher conferences. As well as worked closely with faculty on projects to translate children’s books and an app. Carla’s enjoyment of language learning and her desire to provide bilingual help for Spanish speaking communities has shaped her interest in teaching, translation, and interpretation. While at UCSB, Carla hopes to have the opportunity to study abroad, and after graduating she is interested in pursuing a Masters of Interpretation and Translation.
Creative writing
Many people experience fear and nerves before giving a presentation or an important event where they need to speak in front of people. I know that I have felt a lot of nervousness before a presentation but I know that others have too. I took different emotions and thoughts from different experiences presenting that I have felt or that people have told me they felt and created this flash fiction work. I wanted to write something that others could relate to especially because it’s easy to feel alone and as if nobody else has had that same experience.
Year-long project
For my year-long project I created a website where people can find translations to songs from English to Spanish or Spanish to English. Additionally, I use the topics that different songs bring up to write out my thoughts and opinions. I did this in hopes that it will be used as a language learning resource and help people find more content in their target language. Often in language learning, it’s difficult to feel that you’re making progress , especially when you have to start from the basics and have to learn colors or food items. However, finding interesting content in a target language can help you stay motivated.
