What is your name, what department do you work in, and what are your pronouns? My name is Marcella Bonnan, I am in the world languages department, I teach Spanish and French, and my pronouns are She/Her.
How did you start working at Niles North? Well, this is my 16th year of teaching. I previously taught mostly in Chicago, and during the first year of my career, I also taught in Tucson, Arizona. However, I’ve always wanted to work in this district because of how linguistically diverse it is, and I love being able to walk down the halls and hear so many different languages being spoken.
What do you teach at Niles North? I teach advanced heritage Spanish and also regular Spanish 4, but at Niles West, I teach advanced heritage Spanish along with French.
What made you want to teach Spanish and French? I initially studied French in high school because my dad’s side of the family was French speaking from Louisiana, and so I took it in high school and then later in college. I always wanted to take it abroad, but I couldn’t since I was a literature major and not French, but later in college I took a conversational French class there, which was essentially a lunch where you mainly spoke French, and there my professor told me about a program where I could teach English in France, which interested me, so once I finished college, I applied to the program and got in. In the town I was living in, there were so many Spanish speakers from all parts of the world. That was my first experience teaching, and I realized I really enjoyed it and wanted to pursue it.
Who is someone you haven’t met that inspires you? There’s a scholar named Gloria Anzalduar, she’s not alive anymore, but I wish that I could go back in time and meet her because for the first time—she gave voice to the way many people were feeling as Mexican-Americans in the U.S. and, deeply reflecting on her own identity, she helped give the language for other people to understand their identity as Mexican-Americans.
If you could have any other job, what would it be? Something I want to do eventually is continue to teach full-time, but I also I want to be a professor, like teaching classes in the evening. Essentially, teaching methodology classes for language teachers.
What is one of your favorite hobbies, and why? Well, I really like reading fantasy books. I would recommend a book called “The book that wouldn’t burn” by Mark Lawrence.
Out of all the places you’ve visited, which one could you live in forever? I loved living in the South of France, the pace of life and the work-life balance was so great there, and the people were so kind and welcoming, I felt like I was in Beauty and the Beast. And last year I went to Bilbao, In the Basque Country of Spain, and that might be because they speak Spanish and French, which are all my specialties, except for Euskera which is a really interesting and ancient language spoken there.
If there was a song or artist to represent you, what would it be and why? I really love Natalia Lafourcade, she’s a Mexican singer, she’s just one of my favorites, you know.
