Can you just sit and think of a person that you always learn something new and exciting from. Aurea Diab, Professor of Spanish and Portuguese here at Dillard, who is from Rio de Janeiro has laid a lot of knowledge about Brazil and the work she does here at Dillard.

From the dazzling pictures of Carnaval to the luscious beach of Copacabana to the Sugar Loaf Mountains her students have taken a journey without leaving Rosenwald Hall. Diab is from one of the most beautiful countries in Brazil. Her native language is Portuguese. Her teaching style is profound and fun. And speaking of teaching Diab has been in the teaching profession for 30 years.

Diab has a Bachelor’s of Spanish and a Master’s of Romance Languages, and now she is presently in school working on her Ph.D. She started teaching EFL in Brazil, then upon her coming to the United States, she started teaching Spanish and Portuguese.

Since teaching here at Dillard she has grown to admire the program of World Languages a lot. “I like the fact that classes are small. This makes teaching and learning more effective and also more fun. I also like having the presence of the foreign language teaching assistants, they not only help our students academically, they also share culture with them,” Diab said.

She makes it her business to share her culture with the students when they enter her classroom.Even though the learning can be fun and she enjoys teaching like most professors she is in school as well working on her Ph.D at Tulane University, so her work load has been stressful but rewarding at the same time.

Since coming to Dillard she has made learning an experience for some, while she has had a learning experience as well. “I’ve met nice people who I’ve taught and who have taught me, I’ve made good friends, and I’ve learned a lot about African American culture,” Diab said.

She has learned a lot from being around African American culture, Dillard students and New Orleans “I’ve been here for 21 years. I have friends from all over the world, especially from Latin America, and this makes my life here much more interesting,” Diab said.

And when she is away from her desk or not in the classroom you can find her enjoying movies, reading and exercising. Although her culture and background is very enlightening she occasionally travels to other countries for short vacations between visits home to Brazil.And as the ball keeps rolling in her court of success, she still has plans in the future to still be teaching.