Spanish

Ms. Marianela Belloso-Pinto

Marianela Belloso-Pinto was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. Upon graduating, she taught first and second grade for two years at the Unidad Educativa Colegio Insight. She moved to the United States in 1999, and soon thereafter began teaching Spanish in the City Schools of Decatur school system to grades K-5. While teaching in the City Schools of Decatur system, Ms. Belloso-Pinto earned her Master’s degree in the history and culture of Spain at the University of Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain, where she graduated with high honors. In 2006, Ms. Belloso-Pinto was selected as one of only two Spanish teachers in the entire state of Georgia to represent the state for purposes of the NOELLA national foreign language pilot project in Washington, D.C. This federally-funded project aimed to establish the first affordable, national, and universally accessible norm-based assessment tool for proficiency in early language learning.

Ms. Belloso-Pinto has developed a teaching system that combines music, dance, interactive role playing, and other creative as well as traditional teaching techniques to push students to learn how to effectively communicate in a foreign languge. She firmly believes that memorizing vocabulary is simply not enough. The students must learn how to use the vocabulary in complete and complex sentences in order to become effective communicators. By teaching Spanish in an energetic, fun, and interactive way, Ms. Belloso-Pinto is able to give the students the tools that they need to become effective Spanish speakers and writers.

Besides being an accomplished teacher, Ms. Belloso-Pinto is also an accomplished flamenco dancer and salsa dancer, having performed with the professional dance company Salsatlanta, and currently serving as the director and owner of her own professional flamenco dance company, Caló Gitano.

Useful Links

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