Interview with Derrick Gay

 I am a native speaker of English and a native auditor, and originally a reluctant native speaker of Spanish.  I grew up in a household where English was the primary language, but also with abuelita and assorted older family members who hailed from Puerto Rico.

What other languages do you speak?
I speak English, Spanish, French and Italian fluently; my Portuguese is quite good, and my German is decent. I have also studied Latin and Korean.

Do you consider yourself a “language person” – somebody to whom languages come easily?
Interesting question.  Since I grew up speaking English and Spanish, I always assumed that my skills in French, Italian and Portuguese were a given because of the Spanish. I figured that German was easy because of the English. But when I arrived at college, I met many people whose native Romance Language background did not automatically secure success in learning a second Romance Language - especially regarding pronunciation.  When I studied Korean, I also picked up the sounds, syntax and grammar quickly.  After ten years of language teaching, I think I can say that I am a “language person.” 

You have been teaching with the Breaking the Barrier texts since you and John Conner were colleagues at GrotonSchool several years ago.  You continue to use them in the classroom and as a private tutor in New York City.  What do you like about them?  What keeps you coming back for more?
Any colleague with whom I’ve worked knows that I am very particular about the text I use in class.  I frequently use a textbook as a general guide, as well as worksheets I create and supplements from my personal collection of workbooks.  My experience has been that most Spanish textbooks explain grammar in one of two ways - with such erudite and confusing terms that most students tune out by the second line, or with an oversimplified approach, one that’s full of glossy images but omits the meat of the language. John’s narrative style makes grammar accessible to all.  He uses amusing and effective techniques (such as his memorable mnemonic devices: REVV MAC PHDD, CHAD-ATE, ESCAPA) that make learning fun without diluting the essence of the lesson. Having served as a reader for the AP Exams, John is keenly aware of those skills students need to possess for success on The Advanced Placement Language Test and, ultimately, for linguistic acquisition.

It’s often said that musical people also have an affinity for languages.  As a professional singer and a language teacher, what do you think?
Here again I thought that all of the professional singers with whom I collaborate in operas and concerts would be fluent in all of the operatic languages. Nothing could be farther from the truth!  Although the majority of the Americans with whom I’ve worked have studied Italian, French and German and therefore understand the texts they’re singing, many of them do not have a natural “knack” for languages.  The spontaneous nature of spoken language requires a set of skills that are preferable, but not necessary, for a classical singer. 

You play the role of El Tigre and Le Tigre on the Spanish and French audio CDs.   Are you equally comfortable in both languages? 
At the conversational level, I am equally fluent in both languages - Spanish because I have spoken it all my life, and French I acquired in seventh grade.  I have always been surrounded by Francophones.  In college, I lived in La Masion Française for a year and continued to participate in all things French. After college, I continued to visit France, working for two summers as Academic Dean for L’Académie de Paris. While teaching Spanish for three years at Groton School, I actually spoke more French than Spanish because my best friend was a French teacher on campus, and I spent countless hours at her home with her family.

Do you have an accent?
I definitely don’t sound 100% Puerto Rican because I have spent most of my adult Spanish-speaking time with people from many countries of the Hispanic diaspora.  A few years ago, I was given a State Department Proficiency Test when I was studying for a summer at La Universidad de Puerto Rico through an NEH grant. The results, based upon written, aural and verbal sections, placed me as a native speaker from a generic Caribbean background. Usually people think I’m Dominican, Cuban, Panamanian,
Venezuelan or Colombian, but then my “Puerto Ricanisms” pop out!
As for French, I know that my Spanish sometimes creeps in. When I’m in France, people think that I am from Guadeloupe, Martinique, or of French Caribbean descent.

As you portrayed El Tigre/Le Tigre, what were you trying to convey to the listener about your character?
Actually, El Tigre/Le Tigre and I have a common love - food. My friends still marvel at the fact that I never lose my appetite, even when I’m sick. I wanted to bring an enthusiasm and a joie de vivre to this character to set him apart from the others. It was great fun producing certain sound effects for El Tigre/Le Tigre – speaking while eating, waking up, running for the train, and being chosen as a winner at a Shakira concert.

Your fluency in multiple languages is an integral part of your work as a language teacher and a professional singer.  How do the professional worlds of teaching and singing complement one another?
I began to understand this complementary relationship at age 18 when I entered The Conservatory and The College of Arts and Sciences at Oberlin.  Here I earned two degrees, one in Romance Languages and the other in Opera. As a singer, the libretto (the written script of an opera) is the first step in understanding a character. Many singers rely on translations or spend hours looking up all the words.  I can generally read the libretto as I would any document, only using the dictionary for colloquialisms or archaic words.
As a singer, I also had to take diction courses in English, French, Italian and German. An intimate knowledge of how sound is produced –  for example, understanding how individual muscles are specifically manipulated in sound production – has certainly helped me break down and explain to my students how to approach creating the sounds of a new language.

What kind of singing/musical projects are you currently involved in?
This has been a good year. I performed my first New York City recital at a gallery called Gallerie Icosahedron. Last summer I sang in productions of Madame Butterfly, Falstaff, and Don Pasquale. This fall I sang another Madame Butterfly, a Broadway concert with an NYC opera company, and Amahl and The Night Visitor. This spring I sing Tosca, Don Giovanni, and my first Spanish opera, a zarzuela, Doña Francisquita.

What advice do you have for students who want to become better listeners and speakers of Spanish and French?
In a world where the Internet and other technological advances have made it so easy to connect with other peoples, the global nature of today’s world has become apparent to Americans. Learning a foreign language no longer seems like an option, but a necessity. Here are some of my favorite thoughts about language learning:

• Scientific evidence confirms that the younger you are, the easier it is to learn a new language.

• Once you’ve learned one language, each subsequent language will be easier to acquire.

• It’s much easier to learn a language properly the first time rather than re-learn it properly a second. Those ingrained errors are difficult to eliminate!

• Practice makes permanent!

• Don’t try to translate or use your native language as a standard of comparison for acquisition of a new language. Learn a new language on its own terms.

• The more you speak and read, the better you will become.

• Travel as much as you can. If you can’t travel, try to find linguistic pockets in your area where you can practice your new language;

• Watch movies and television in the new language. In Spanish, you can easily find television stations. Help yourself by putting the television on closed captioning so that you can see the Spanish script as you listen to it. For DVD’s, you can put the subtitles in Spanish, French or English.