SPRING 1999
Questions about hardware or software compatibility?
Click to go to FAQ's
Just say no to multiple choice!
SBP's interactive exercises stress learner production. Click Ejercicios for an overview.
Internet-enabled multimedia?
Spanish for Business Professionals allows you to download daily news and financial updates over your internet connection. Bookmark our web site for details in the near future!
Wouldn't it be nice if students could e-mail assignments to instructor without leaving a tutorial?
The educational version of SBP comes with built-in e-mail window. Check out our Noticias page from time to time for more info.
Real-time, peer-to-peer communication via the internet.
This is one of the technologies in SBP. Visit our Noticias site for updates on our progress.
Spanish for Business Professionals copyright © 1996-1999 United States Department of Education.
Spanish for Business Professionals is the property of the U.S. Department of Education. All rights reserved world wide.
Spanish for Business Professionals is supported by a three-year, $171,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Its purpose is to develop intelligent multimedia software for students and business professionals who want to learn Spanish. It was one of eleven grants -- and the third largest, in terms of funding -- given nationwide in 1996 under the DOE's International Research and Studies Program. UH-Downtown was the only four-year institution to receive funding under this program. Here is our personnel list:
Project Director. Professor Hagen received his PhD. in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Illinois. His research interests are in theoretical syntax, natural language processing, and expert systems design for computer-assisted language instruction. He has developed software for Intellimation, Inc., and has written articles on computer-assisted instruction for La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes and the CALICO Journal. At present he is an associate professor of humanities at the University of Houston-Downtown.
Project Manager. Ms. Cooper is a native of Mexico who moved to the United States in 1989. After graduating from Houston's Waltrip High School in 1995, she began her college career at the University of Houston-Downtown, where she is studying marketing and film, radio and television production. She is a recent recipient of UH-Downtown's Red Rose Leadership scholarship, which is one of the most prestigious the university has to offer. Ms. Cooper is currently a junior.
Voice and Business Consultant. Dr. Cuevas is originally from Corpus Christi, Texas. Like her character in the SBP dialogs, she spoke Spanish when she was young, but lost a lot of it over the years. Her education includes a BA cum laude from the University of Texas-Austin, and a JD from Boston College. From 1980 to 1994, Dr. Cuevas was a practicing attorney for a number of organizations in the United States, including the City of Houston, Dailey Oil Tools, and Catholic Charities. Her travels throughout the world include a five-year stint in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Currently she is a Lecturer in Business and Commercial Law at the University of Houston-Downtown.
Assistant Media Director. Mr. Warren received his B.A. from Columbia University and has worked as an instructional designer for the Space Operations Group at Rockwell International, where he helped design computer-based training software for NASA's astronaut candidates. He has also done multimedia development for the Environmental Institute of Houston, Lee Community College, and North Harris Community College. He is now pursuing his Master's degree in instructional technology at the University of Houston Clear Lake.
Voice/Writer. Señor Rodríguez has theater experience in México and the United States, both as an actor and as a director. His credits include Otelo, La dama de las camelias, and La noche má venturosa. He is also the author of, inter alia, The Door with Nails, Black Jack and other Farce, and Theatre to be Read and Performed when the Airplanes are not Flying over the City. Those who have spent time in México might also recognize Señor Rodríguez from TV commercials for Doña Marí mole, Brandy Viejo Vergel, and Banamex.
Raul Pedraza has worked in México for U.A.N.L. Comunicaciones and as a reporter for Canal 28 Noticias in Monterrey, Nuevo León. More recently, he has been doing work in the United States as a DJ for KXYZ Radio.
Writer. A native of Chile, Ms. Leporati-Néron received her Licenciada en Letras from the Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile and her Master's from Rice University. Before coming to the United States, she taught English for business professionals in Chile and served as Academic Coordinator at Linguatec Language Center in Chile. She is currently teaching Spanish at Episcopal High School in Houston.
Writer. Ms. Lepe was born in Mexico, where she studied at the Escuela Superior de Ventas. She has worked as translator, interpreter and copy editor for a number of multinational companies, including Technicon, Time-Life, and Anheuser-Busch. Currently she works at the Houston Chronicle for the Director of Information and Technology Resources.
Voice/Writer. Ms. García is a lecturer in reading at UH-Downtown. She has more than 10 years of experience as an instructor in English as a Second Language and Spanish for the Houston Independent School District. Currently she is completing her doctorate in education, with an emphasis in cultural studies, at the University of Houston.
Intern / Tech writer. Mr. Wessels is pursuing a B.S. degree in Professional Writing at the University of Houston-Downtown. He is currently working on the forthcoming HTML-based User Manual for Spanish for Business Professionals.