The Spanish Kiwi with Gloria

In this episode, I sit down with Gloria Vazquez – a vibrant, passionate, and much-loved figure in the Spanish teaching community here in Aotearoa. Originally from Asturias in the north of Spain, Gloria came to New Zealand in the late 1980s for love and adventure, and ended up building a life and legacy that has touched countless students and fellow educators over the years. 

Gloria shares the story of her early days in NZ, when there were hardly any Spanish speakers around and everything felt new and unfamiliar. She talks about the challenges of settling in, finding community, and navigating a completely different culture. all while staying true to her roots. We dive into her journey as a Senior Lecturer at AUT, her love for the Spanish language, and how she’s helped grow its presence in New Zealand. Her passion for teaching and connection shines through every word. 

This episode is full of gems, Gloria offers thoughtful, heartfelt advice for anyone starting fresh in a new country, pursuing a teaching career, or just figuring out where they belong. Her story is a reminder that it’s never too late to follow your heart, and that with a bit of courage and a lot of aroha, you really can build a beautiful life across the world. 

Hosted by Debbie Ross
Find us on Instagram & Facebook: @nurturingeducators

For more information, guest recommendations, and sponsorship opportunities 
or to chat, please email: nurturingeducators@gmail.com or visit  www.nurturingeducators.co.nz

Thanks for listening! 

Transcript

Debbie:
I'm so thrilled to have you on the podcast today. Welcome, Gloria. 

Gloria:
Thank you so much for having me. 

Debbie:
I’m thinking of me. Yeah. I mean, Gloria, for those of you who don’t know, is considered to be the GOAT in Spanish in New Zealand, and it’s such an honour to have you on the podcast today. 

Gloria:
Oh, I think you’re exaggerating. You are excited, not a GOAT. 

Debbie:
Alright, for those that don’t know you, would you like to just share a little bit about yourself? 

Gloria:
Well, oh, that’s a good question. What can I say? I’m Gloria, a mother. I’m from Spain, from Asturias, north of Spain, and I’ve been here in New Zealand, out toa, since 1988. I came when I was really young, I was in my early 20s. Okay. You can do the math. But I continued in New Zealand and I fell in love with the country and I came for love. I was in love with a Kiwi, and adventure, I saw coming to New Zealand was a huge venture, and still is an adventure. I love it here. 

Debbie:
Amazing. Love it. 

Gloria:
I’m a Spanish Kiwi, I call myself. 

Debbie:
Yeah. Oh, well, you’ve probably been to about half of your life in both countries, haven’t you? 

Gloria:
I’ve spent a lot more time here. 

Debbie:
Yeah. 

Gloria:
A lot more, like nearly double the time that I spent in Spain, yeah. So it’s pretty scary. 

Debbie:
So what was it like settling into a new country and so far from home? 

Gloria:
For me, it wasn’t that hard because, first of all, I was quite young, so I didn’t have... It’s not like I left Korea and I left everything. I was living in the UK when I met my ex-husband, who’s a Kiwi. So I had already lived in the UK for four years. I couldn’t speak English, you know, reasonably well back then. So when I came to New Zealand in ’88, there weren’t many foreigners in those days. And I mean, I’m sure there were quite a few, but not as many as we have now. And there weren’t many Spanish at all. And I really felt, I felt at home from the beginning. I really felt like, you know, when you get to a new place and you think, gosh, this feels right, you know? So it felt right. 

But I was here for nearly four years the first time, and I went back. 

Debbie:
Yeah. 

Gloria:
And I spent another three years in Spain before deciding to come back and settle here permanently. I needed to do that. 

Debbie:
Yeah, fair enough, making sure that this is where you’re meant to be? 

Gloria:
Absolutely. Especially when you live with somebody from another country who doesn’t speak the language or doesn’t understand the culture. So for me, it was crucial at that stage of my life thinking I wanted to have a family with him. And, you know, he’s Spanish, so it wasn’t easy. He didn’t know much about us. So we went to live in Spain for three years so he could learn the language and the culture. And then once we had the children, it was quite easy to, you know, just cope with somebody who understood my  whakapapa. 

Debbie:
Yeah, cool.  I like that. So what are some of the things that you miss about Spain? 

Gloria:
Oh my Gosh, right now it’s funny because when people say, “Are you going home?” and I say, “Go home? This is home.” What I miss about Spain right now is my family. I miss my sisters, my family, my cousins. My parents have passed away. I also miss the way of life in Spain, you know, like... 

Debbie:
Yeah, I get that. 

Gloria:
You know, just going out for a café, a drink — “Let’s go have a tapa.” And they’re very spontaneous catching up with everybody all the time. That socialisation that we have in Spain — I’m quite sociable here, but it’s not spontaneous as in Spain. You know, here you tend to arrange things, or you call people, “Hey,” you know? You just don’t knock on the door. You don’t knock on the door. 

Gloria:
I miss that. And I think what I miss — yeah, I miss a lot of things. I don’t miss bureaucracy. 

Debbie:
Yeah. 

Gloria:
But what I miss is being relaxed and, you know, yeah, being chill. 

Gloria:
The food, I miss the food in Spain, but we’re so lucky here nowadays. We’ve got everything. 

Debbie:
Yeah, that’s true. 

Gloria:
When I first arrived, we couldn’t even find pimentón or saffron. 

Gloria:
Now we have basically everything — you know, la Jamón serrano. None of that was around then. It was hard to find. Whereas now, you know, I buy, I do eat quite a few Spanish things because, you know, home is home. I lived in Spain the first 19 years of my life, so, you know, all those, I enjoy those treats as well. I still do every day. I’ve got my queso manchego right now. 

 Debbie:
So what made you decide to become a teacher? 

Gloria:
That’s a really good question. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. Always. I was quite small, and people would say, you know, in Spanish, ¿Qué quieres ser? — and I’d say, Quiero ser maestra. I want to be a teacher. Really, really young. Tiny. Even when I was really young, like intermediate age, I would take tutorials at my school. I mean, I didn’t know they were called tutorials then, but I’d have a group of students — a group of girls — and I’d be teaching them, getting them ready for exams. Through high school, I was having to book rooms and everything. You know, I’m talking about when I was 12 or 13, and I was already a teacher. 

Debbie:
Wow! 

Gloria:
And then I was always happy when my students did well. And my students used to tell me, "You explain things better than the teacher," because I used the language they understood, you know? And I know — I mean, I don’t want it to sound vain — but I’ve got a gift. And teaching is my gift. I was born to be a teacher, and I’m so happy to be a teacher. 

Debbie:
But your first career wasn’t in teaching? 

Gloria:
Oh really! No, it wasn’t. 

Debbie:
Tell me more! That’s really interesting — I didn’t know that. 

Gloria:
I wanted to be a teacher, but — and I think it’s really good for teachers to have different careers. Because I think — and I’m happy I didn’t go to university to do my teacher training when I was 19 or 20. Because you need life experience. I think you need that. So I didn’t go back to do teacher training until I was 30. 

Debbie:
Oh wow. 

Gloria:
Yeah, in my 20s, I did all my business administration. And I was very lucky to work — I had very good jobs in business.  

Gloria:
I mean, I slowly climbed up, of course. And I did a lot of business administration and marketing, as well as translation. And I loved that. I really — I was so passionate about it. But teaching was always in the back of my mind, you know? 

So even here in New Zealand, when I first arrived in ’88, I got a job in business, which was great — business administration. I loved it. But I started working part-time at AUT — when it was still ATI. I was working two evenings a week at first, then three evenings, then weekends, then summer school, winter school... I was working so hard. I was working full-time in business and doing lots of teaching because I loved it. It’s always been my passion. 

But I never had the guts to give up my business job — because it paid so well. And teaching didn’t, you know? 

Gloria:
It still doesn’t. We don’t do it for the money. 

Gloria:
That’s right. So, I didn’t really decide to dive fully into teaching until I got pregnant with Carlos, my first son. 

Debbie:
Okay. 

Gloria:
I was 30. I had him in Spain — that was when we went back to live in Spain. And there, I said, that’s it. I gave everything up. I thought, I need a new life. I’m a mother now, and I don’t want to work the long hours anymore. Because I used to work pretty long hours — like an 8 to 6 every day kind of thing — and I didn’t want that. It wouldn’t be fair on me or on my children. 

Debbie:
Sure. 

Gloria:
So I gave everything up. I became really poor — I had no money at all. Just a little baby. And I went, “Here I am.” I'm so proud of where I got to. But it was not easy, believe me. 

 Debbie:
So you’re a lecturer at AUT. How long have you been a lecturer? 

Gloria:
Senior lecturer. 

Debbie:
Sorry! Senior lecturer! 

Gloria:
No, no — I’m kidding, I’m just kidding! 

Debbie:
laughs How long have you been there, and how has it kind of changed over the years? 

Gloria:
That’s a really good question. I started, as I said, as a part-time tutor. In those days, we didn’t have lecturers — it was still a polytechnic. And slowly, over time... I worked here for about three years. I started in 1990 — that was my first contract at AUT. 

Then I left the country, and when I came back in ’94 with Carlos — no, I came back in ’95 — I wanted a job here, but there weren’t any. So I went back to university. I was basically a student and a mother. 

And it wasn’t until 1996 that an opening came up — a vacancy. It was like a 0.5 or 0.4 position, which was pretty good. I could still go to university, be a mum, and do a couple of days of teaching. 

Things were quite different back then. The first program I was teaching was called the Certificate in International Language. And I don’t know if you remember the night classes? 

Debbie:
Oh yeah. 

Gloria:
It was in the evenings — classes were evening courses and it was all for adults. 

Debbie:
Okay. 

Gloria:
So we were basically teaching adults who wanted to travel. That was the idea. Everyone worked in the city, and then once a week they’d come in to learn Spanish, or French, or whatever. Those courses were really popular. 

Gloria:
They were all around in secondary schools and everything. So ATI — or AIT, as it was in those days — I was really happy there. I was used to doing a couple of nights a week. It worked great with the kids, you know. 

And then slowly, when we became a university — that was the big change. 

Debbie:
Yeah. 

Gloria:
So they closed the program. The certificate was gone. All the languages that were part of that certificate — I had been the coordinator for International Languages for a few years — they just scrapped the whole thing. And I thought, "Oh my gosh!" That was my job. But then I thought, "It doesn’t matter — I’m going to train to be a high school teacher." I didn’t mind. I had started in primary, then thought I might move into high school. So I thought, "Doesn’t matter, I’ve got options." 

I had quite a few options. I was a lot younger, so I was quite happy to try a new avenue. 

However, they said to me, "Okay, we’re becoming a university, and we want you to revamp all the courses." And they said, "We’re keeping Spanish." 

And I said, "Ooh, that’s great!" I mean — I don’t know for sure, but I’m sure it was partly because I was the coordinator of the program. And to be fair, we had enough student numbers in Spanish. The majority of the students were doing Spanish. So they thought, "We’re going to give it a go." 

But the Spanish we started offering was for BA students — which, until then, we’d never had. We never had young, university-aged students doing our courses. It was their parents — adults — doing the courses, mostly as a hobby. We didn’t even have exams back then. 

Gloria:
You know, it was pretty much a completely different setup. And I thought, "Oh my gosh, okay... this is a huge job." It really was — wow. And I had to undertake it all on my own, because we didn’t have anybody else teaching the courses at that point. 

So of course, I started with the first course. And I remember I began advertising, doing all the promo work, blah blah — and we only had eight students from Communication Studies in that first course. 

And I remember the manager in those days saying to me, “If you have enough students, you can have a second course. You’ll only have work if you have students.” 

Debbie:
Oh wow — that’s pretty harsh! 

Gloria:
Exactly! I thought, "That’s pretty unfair," because recruiting students really shouldn’t be my job. But there I was — using my marketing background and my personality — recruiting everybody! 

Debbie:
Laughs Of course you did! 

Gloria:
Promoting, selling the idea… And thanks to those eight students — I’m here now. 

Now we have about 300 students per year! 

Debbie:
Wow, that’s amazing! 

Gloria:
It’s not a massive number — I mean, it’s only about 1% of the students at AUT who are studying Spanish — so it’s not a lot. But the students we do have are amazing. I’m so proud and happy, and I just love what I do. 

Debbie:
I mean, look at this — this is great! 

Gloria:
It’s so good. 

 Debbie:
And it’s so important too — which probably brings me to my next question. I feel like the importance of languages in New Zealand isn’t as big as it is over in Europe. What’s your take on that? 

Gloria:
Well, that’s a good point. We know it’s not. Unfortunately, parents here don’t really value languages the same way. So when students go through primary — yeah, they don’t mind doing a few language classes here and there — but going into high school, as you probably know yourself, a lot of students just don’t want to pick up languages. 

Debbie:
Totally. 

Gloria:
And the parents often push them to pick up all the "main" subjects — you know, sciences especially, which of course are very important... 

Debbie:
Definitely. 

Gloria:
But I tell my students — and most of my students are Level 1 students, which means they come in with no previous knowledge of Spanish, or maybe just a little bit. Some of them have had those introductory courses — you know, the taster programs — maybe they did a compulsory term in Year 9 or Year 10. But it’s very little, so they come in pretty fresh. 

And what amazes me is that many of them have never even wanted to learn Spanish until now. I ask them, “Have you done French? Have you tried any language?” And some have — but a lot of them have never done any languages. And I always think, How can you go through high school without taking at least one extra language? 

Debbie:
Yeah, exactly. 

Gloria:
Because in Europe, it’s compulsory — at least one, if not two languages. When I was younger, when I was at school, we could choose between French and English. And I chose French — because I loved French. I still love French! It’s such a beautiful language. 

Gloria:
So, yeah. I dove into English like a crazy woman. When I finished my training, I went to England — and I didn’t know any English at all. I landed in London not knowing a thing. I used to say “hello” — or actually, I used to say “H-hello”. [laughs] 

Debbie:
H-hello? [laughing] 

Gloria:
Yeah! I don’t know, I think I heard it on the radio or something. But people had no idea what I was saying. It was “hello” with a Spanish accent — hell-ohhhh. You know, with that full-on vowel sound. 

Debbie:
Oh my gosh! [laughs] That’s gold. 

Gloria:
Yeah, anyway... 

Debbie:
So what do you tell your students these days? Why is it important to have another language? 

Gloria:
I think the most important thing about learning another language is that it makes you aware of other people — other cultures. It helps you think in an intercultural way. It opens your mind to the fact that not everyone sees the world the way you do. Everyone has different perspectives. 

Debbie:
That’s so true. 

Gloria:
Yeah. And with my students, I often tell them about the mistakes I made when I was learning English. You know, whenever we come across something interesting in class — it’s quite spontaneous — I’ll share a story. Like when we’re learning parts of the body, and in English you say “toes”, but in Spanish, we say “the fingers of your feet” — los dedos de los pies. So I used to say “foot fingers”. I didn’t know the word “toes” for years. 

Debbie:
[laughs] That’s so great. 

Gloria:
And they love that! They love those little anecdotes. Then they’ll say, “Oh Gloria, I want to speak Spanish fluently. I want to sound like a native.” And I say to them, “Why do you want to sound like a Spaniard? Look at me — I’ve been learning English for 40 years... do I sound English?” [laughs] 

Debbie:
And it’s great because it kind of opens up so many doors for them in the future too, doesn’t it? 

Gloria:
Absolutely. And learning Spanish is not — as I tell them — I say, “You might never remember any Spanish you learned in the class. Maybe ‘hola,’ maybe ‘adiós’ — if you're lucky.”
But all the skills you’re learning in the class, all the interaction we do, all the situations you learn to navigate in another language — that’s giving you so many skills for one day when you graduate, when you get a job. Those skills? You’ll never learn them in any other course. 

Debbie:
Yeah, totally. It’s the learning process more than the grade, right? 

Gloria:
Exactly! At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you get an A or a B or a C — it’s just the learning journey. That’s what counts. 

Debbie:
Yeah, no, that’s so true. I love that. 

So — you’ve become the STANZA president recently, in the last couple of years — congratulations! That’s really exciting. For those who don’t know, that’s our Spanish Teachers Association of New Zealand, isn’t it? 

Gloria:
Yes, that’s right! 

Debbie:
Tell us a little bit more about that? 

Gloria:
Well, it’s funny — I became president last July, so it’s nearly been a year already! It’s gone really fast. We’ll be having elections again next year — we do it every two years.
It’s been quite different because I had been the vice president for many years. I worked alongside Cheryl, who was our president for a long time — and she was amazing. 

Debbie:
Oh yes, she was! 

Gloria:
She really was. And it’s always really hard when you’ve had such a great president before you. As vice president, you’re used to supporting — but then when you take over, you think, “Am I ever going to be as good?” You know? You always wonder. 

Debbie:
Yeah, I get that. 

Gloria:
But I’m really excited.  I think I'm doing a great job — I mean, I don’t want it to sound vain — but honestly, it’s not because of me. It’s because of the executive. We've got an amazing executive team. And apart from the executive, we’ve got lots of people like yourself — not necessarily on the committee — but always ready to help. 

So whenever we organise something, yes, it’s a lot of work, but everyone’s enthusiastic and happy to contribute. It makes the association flourish, and that’s what we want — to do the best for our teachers. 

So, no, I love it. I think it's really good. This is actually the first time since the association was established... and I remember when it was first established! It was in Wellington, and I was pregnant with Nicole — and she’s going to be 29 this August. So that was 29 years ago! 

We happened to be at a conference — the NZALT conference in Wellington — and I remember I was also the vice president back then. Christina Robinson — I don’t know if you ever met her? She’s from Argentina — she was the president for many years, and I was her vice president again. Then I stepped away for a while, but eventually I came back on. 

I remember thinking in those days, “Let’s see where this takes us.” It was such a small group back then. And now, it's just wonderful. We’ve got — I don’t know — maybe 200 teachers across the country, maybe more! (I should’ve brought my figures with me, but I didn’t!) 

It’s just wonderful. We’re so happy. And I really believe we need something like STANZA — we need that network to support every Spanish teacher across the Aotearoa.

Debbie:
Yeah, and it’s great. I highly recommend — if there are Spanish teachers out there who haven’t become part of the association — that they do. Because, yeah, you get lots of support, lots of resources, and some great days where you get together with other teachers. And also, yeah, really good courses and events. So thank you — it’s really important, I reckon. 

Gloria:
Yeah. One of the biggest misconceptions people have is, “Oh, if I don’t teach at a high school, I shouldn’t join STANZA.” But do join! It’s very affordable — just a small fee — and even then, if you can’t afford it, just talk to us. We’re here to help. 

We’re here for everyone — whether you work at a primary school, secondary school, university, private institution, or even as a private tutor — we’re here to support you. 

Debbie:
Yeah, that’s great. Because then they can be part of a community. 

Gloria:
Exactly! And do you know — this is actually the first time in STANZA’s 29-year history that a teacher from tertiary education is the president. Up to now, we’ve always had high school teachers. And that made sense, because a lot of the policies and things coming from the Ministry of Education tend to focus more on high schools. 

But I’m really happy we’re starting to look at things through different lenses now. I think it was a great move to have someone from tertiary for a change. And who knows? Next time maybe we’ll have someone from primary or intermediate. We have to mix it up! 

Debbie:
Oh, I love that. 

Debbie:
So, moving on a little bit, let’s just cover a bit about well-being before we wrap up. Gloria, what do you do to help your well-being? 

Gloria:
Ooh, that’s a good question! Well, I have five sons—so many! They’re all grown up now, but while they were growing up, you can just imagine how hectic my life was. I did everything—so busy with work, everything for the boys, you know? I was like a… not Superman, but just juggling everything! 

Debbie:
(Laughs) Yeah, I can imagine! 

Gloria:
Exactly! But now that the boys have left home, or even when they started to grow up, I began to take more care of myself. And I really do take care of myself well. I absolutely love playing tennis—I think I’m addicted! The tennis court, going to the club, it’s my favourite place apart from home. It feels like a second home to me. 

Debbie:
That’s lovely! What else do you enjoy? 

Gloria:
I love hanging out with my family. Now we’ve got grandchildren, and every Sunday we do a very Spanish tradition—we meet up with the family. It’s so special. And holidays, of course! I’m really lucky—I have lots of friends, and I’m quite sociable and very Spanish in that way. 

Debbie:
(Laughs) That sounds wonderful. 

Gloria:
Yeah! And I’m also into the gym—I’m a bit of a gym blood! I socialise quite a bit. I love reading, too. Oh, and I have a dog, Luna, so I walk her regularly. I just got back from the club this morning, actually. And I love movies as well. So there’s a lot I do. 

Debbie:
I’m wondering, where do you get the time from? 

Gloria:
(Laughs) Someone always asks me that! But there’s always time for everything if you make it. I’m very lucky. I keep a really good routine with all the things I do. One of the most important things I always do is Pilates—I do a bit of yoga and meditation as well. 

Debbie:
That sounds so healthy! 

Gloria:
Yes! I think it’s so important. I don’t do the big, deep meditation—no, no—but I do my five minutes in the morning or when I’m stressed at work. I do my breathing exercises. 

Debbie:
Do you sing to yourself? 

Gloria:
(Laughs) Yeah, I do! It works really well, especially when you have something big coming up—like going on stage. I tell myself, “Okay, I’ve got to calm down.” And it really helps. Even though I’ve been lecturing for so long, certain lectures still get to me a bit. 

Debbie:
That’s really good advice for new teachers, too—learning to centre themselves and take deep breaths before going into a new class. 

Gloria:
Absolutely! Another key to my well-being is nutrition. I eat well—very healthy. I avoid sugar, don’t drink much alcohol, and mostly drink water. I try to keep a very balanced diet. I might be a bit pedantic or paranoid about it! 

Debbie:
(Laughs) It’s all about balance, right? 

Gloria:
Exactly. Oh! I forgot to say—I love cooking! Cooking is my hobby and it keeps me sane. I do a lot of cooking for my family, often Spanish-inspired. I do some authentic Spanish dishes, but not all of them because when I was young in Spain, I didn’t really know how to cook, so I had to learn. 

Debbie:
That’s great. What are some of your favourite Spanish dishes to make? 

Gloria:
Well, I do things like paella, lentejas, tortilla… some classic dishes come around every now and then. They’re definitely part of my repertoire. 

Debbie:
That sounds delicious—and such a wonderful way to stay connected to your roots and family. Thank you for sharing all that, Gloria. 

Debbie:
And what about the well-being of your students? What kinds of things do you do to help them? 

Gloria:
That’s a really good question. It’s been a big problem here for us, especially for me and talking to my colleagues. We have a lot of students with a lot of mental health issues, and a lot of problems as well. A lot of students on the spectrum, with different disabilities, and IUT has got a really good program to help us do that disabilities. We’re very lucky. But at the end of the day, when we’re in the classroom, we are the ones dealing with it. We get some support if we need to, but you know, I’m very lucky because I think one of the biggest things with people, you know, with disabilities or even for well-being in general, is treat them as people, be warm, be honest, be welcoming, and let them feel safe in the classroom. 

I get lots of students, as I say, mainly mental health, and I know how difficult it can be, and I can imagine being so young and having that burden. But just making them feel safe and exploring, and you know, you just don’t feel obliged to do things they don’t want to, and just let them be themselves. Yeah, so I think I like that. 

Also, every topic we do in language teaching, you know what it’s like—for example, when we do food, I can’t help it but talk about healthy food, talking about routines, a healthy routine. So when I like it or know what influence and, you know, where we influence the way they do things. And it’s amazing what they remember. I’m surprised what things the students remember that we’re talking about in class and then they come and tell you, and it’s always nice positive things. You think, well, I think as teachers we have such power and we make such an impact on every student. 

Yeah, that we don’t realise. We use it for good. But it’s hard. I’m not an expert. When I see students with big troubles, I always send them to the students, you know, the place where they help them. 

Debbie:
Great. 

 Debbie:
All right. So I think we’ve covered a lot of things today. It’s been amazing, but maybe just to finish off—one little piece of advice you’d give to new teachers, especially Spanish teachers or language teachers, what could you suggest? 

Gloria:
I’d say my biggest advice is: If you’re a teacher because you want to teach, you’ve got a passion. And ask for help if you need it. Make sure that if you need help, you ask for it. 

And yes, enjoy every class. Enjoy your students and make a difference. Yes, make a difference for one student per term or per year. You know, if you’ve been around for 30 years or more like me, in 30 years, you’ve made a difference in the lives of many students. 

Just keep doing it. Be patient, you know, understand that learning the language is not an easy process. Make it fun and accept the mistakes—accept that we all make mistakes. It’s just fun, yeah. 

But I often tell my students that the best way to learn a language is by making mistakes. 

Gloria :
Absolutely. Yeah. Can I tell you, my biggest mistake? 

Debbie:
Yeah, go for it. 

Gloria :
Well, I was learning English, apart from the toes, my biggest one is—students love this one. This is really my top one. You know how in England they say, “I love it.” You know, everybody says, “I love it, I love it.” When I was learning English, I—I love—which was good but not eat. I couldn’t hear the eat, and I thought, “I love you.” And I used to tell everybody, “I love you,” and people used to tell me, “Oh, you’re such a loving person.” And I used to tell everybody, “I love them.” Oh, embarrassing. Oh, my students laugh when I tell them. 

 Gloria :
So me going around, Britan at 19, and saying “I love you” to everybody. That was awful, yeah. 

Debbie:
Oh, you would have made a lot of friends. 

Gloria:
I made a lot of—I don’t know. Looking back, it was embarrassing. I didn’t get embarrassed in those days. I didn’t know, but you know, it’s okay to make mistakes, and I look back. Yeah. 

Gloria:
But thank you, Debbie. 

Debbie:
Yes, no, thank you. I think it’s been so nice that you’ve been able to take the time today to share your story with us. It’s just been so inspiring, and I thank you on behalf of all the Spanish teachers of New Zealand for the amazing job you’ve done and how you’ve really paved the way for us. So we appreciate all the hard work that you’ve done. 

Gloria:
Thank you. So privileged to be here. If anybody wants to contact me, just look up AUT. I’d be happy to talk to anybody and give any advice. 

Debbie:
Amazing. Thank you.