Student publishes Spanish teaching book

AASU student Jordan Eason has made many milestones in his 18 years. Most recently he has published his own Spanish teaching book, "Spanish Made Easy as 1-2-3!"

Eason grew up in Savannah, where his father taught him Spanish at age 8 with library books until he began to teach himself. Spanish is only one of six languages he speaks. Along with English, his native tongue, he is also fluent in Portuguese, Italian, French and Hebrew. He is mainly self-taught in these languages, learning from books and practicing with people who spoke the languages.

In middle school he was presented with an assignment to create a story with several chapters. After this, he said, he decided that he wanted to write and that he would like to write a book that could help people in some way.

His extensive background in foreign languages helped to solidify his decision to begin writing a language teaching book complete with lessons, vocabulary, pronunciation and other important aspects of learning a new language.

"I decided, ‘Why don't I write a book that will help people learn Spanish easier than some of the other methods that are out there now?'" Eason said.

One of the problems that Eason tackles in his 140-page book is learning Spanish with an English-speaking mind. He said that to learn a new language, one must think in terms of the new language.

"I know one of the difficulties for non-native speakers is the actual structure," he said. "When they are learning the language, they'll try to say things the same way they'll say them in English. A lot of times that doesn't cut it. They'll try to translate things directly, and it really won't make any sense in that target language."

He said the brevity of the book keeps it from intimidating readers, and accommodates readers like busy adults and students by not wasting their time with the "fluff" that many other language teaching books may include.

"Spanish Made Easy as 1-2-3!" includes not only a standard introduction to each chapter and vocabulary lists, but in each of the eight chapters there is a section dedicated to a particular Spanish-speaking country. Readers can learn about the culture, traditions and speaking styles of places such as Spain, the language's origin.

Also in the book is a full section on verbs and irregulars, what Eason said can be the hardest part to learn in a new language. The book includes tables, lists and examples to help the reader learn, as opposed to simply memorizing.

At age 16, Eason began his collegiate career at AASU and is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing.

Now in his third year, he said that though the process of writing and publishing the book was fairly quick, "It was a juggle – I had to study and find the time to write."

With support from his parents, he was able to write the main components of the book within a few months and published within a year.

He said that they taught him "to be studious and disciplined and to never give up."

Rita Brownlee, program advisor of nursing, said Eason's self-esteem and confidence have helped him tremendously.

"He doesn't let anything stand in his way, and he knows the meaning of hard work," she said. Eason's hard work has not only gained him publication in paperback, but there is also an e-book version available for Amazon's Kindle, an electronic reading device. He plans to have the book available for the Nook, a similar device from Barnes & Noble booksellers.

Bill Deaver, professor of Spanish, said that considering Eason's age and the fact that he is not a trained linguist, "it'll be interesting to see what the book looks like, how expert the advice is and how simple the Spanish really is."

Eason said he may plan to write and publish future volumes of the book, which would go further in depth than the current one, but he believes that "Spanish Made Easy as 1-2-3!" should ground readers in the most important aspects of the Spanish language.