Amy Hernández Matsumoto

Adjunct Instructor of Spanish

 

Biography

With over 26 years of experience in both public and international schools, Matsumoto brings a diverse and global perspective to language education. She holds a BA in Foreign Languages (Spanish) and a Bilingual/ESL teaching degree from Washington State University, Pullman, and an MA in Teaching & Leadership from Heritage University. Her teaching career began at Seoul Foreign School in South Korea, where she completed her student teaching in Spanish. After returning to the United States for a few years, she continued her journey in education by teaching English at a middle school in Nishinomiya, Japan, through a sister city program with WSU’s Education Department. She has also lived and taught English in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, a small Mayan indigenous town in southern Mexico.

Her primary focus has been on language learning (Spanish or English) in middle school education, and some years in high school. However, the last three years she has taught college students in the field of education, specifically geared towards English Language Learners. In addition to classroom teaching, she is passionate about leading educational travel experiences for both adults and students. She has organized and led trips around the world, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries. She believes in empowering others to overcome their fears and embrace the opportunity to travel and practice the languages they are learning. She is also a strong believer in feeling a part of a community and bringing that same feeling into a classroom. Each Spanish-speaking country offers a unique cultural experience, and she finds that even repeat visits feel like discovering the place for the first time.

Originally from eastern Washington, she has called Vancouver, WA, home for the past 17 years, where she lives with her husband. Vancouver’s sense of community resonates with the global connections she’s made throughout her life, and she finds great joy in contributing to this community. In her spare time, she indulges in her passions for finding great eats, but also reading and writing and as well as helping her husband run their family restaurant, Pizzeria La SORRENTINA. Since she is a fellow Coug herself, nothing excites her more than getting to return to Washington State University and teach.