...ça m'ouvre le monde et me laisse avoir des conversations sidérantes et inattendues.

Bonjour! Bom Dia! Hi! If you've come to this page, you probably are curious about my background. I was born in Quantico, Virginia, of a native Brazilian mother and an Italian father. Since that time, I have lived in various places around the world and I now make my home in Northern Virginia.

I have studied French language and literature all of my life. I am most proud of my formation in Nineteenth Century French literature, because it brought me in touch with the teacher who inspired me to teach - John Andrew Frey. He will always live on in my heart as my mentor and forever-friend. Through Frey, I met Baudelaire, Rimbaud and, hélas, Victor Hugo!!! I have read almost every novel of the Rougon-Macquart of Zola and I cannot remember how many times I've read all the novels of Flaubert. I have always loved French literature, but 19th century is my definite favorite.

As a doctoral student, I decided to join my heritage to my love of things French, by writing a dissertation on French and Brazilian romanticism. My dissertation is about the Eurocentric depiction of the Indian in Atala, a novel by Chateaubriand and Iracema, a novel by the Brazilian novelist, José de Alencar. It is a comparative literature study that kept me busy for a few years.

Teaching at Northern Virginia Community College in the Virginia Community College System remains a pleasure and a privilege.I love teaching our very hard-working students and I am excited about what they achieve. I am extremely proud of our world-class language program where 13 languages are taught. Learn more about our language program here.

I will always be a lifelong learner as I try to improve my use of technology in teaching. I am a firm believer that technology-enhanced learning opens up a wide variety of learning experiences for students that would not be available to them otherwise.

I see technology as the bridge that will make language study possible for all students, regardless of learning styles. My current research area focuses on the sound integration of instructional technology in the foreign language classroom, in blended courses and online. Students in my courses can count on real-world communication in the target language, thanks, in large measure to modern technology.

If I were to choose one project that has had the most profound on my long career in education, I would have to choose MERLOT. Since 2000, it has been my great pleasure to be a founding Editor of MERLOT World Languages. It is my job to help shed light on the excellent online learning materials on the web today by managing a top notch editorial board of content experts from institutions of higher learning, both national and international.

My work frequently takes me to foreign language conferences across the country and even around the world. I have been to Ghana and Brazil for an elearning conference and an international faculty development seminar in Brazil. I have participated in online conferences as far away as South Africa and hope to return to Francophone Africa soon.

Away from school, I love to be outdoors. I used to be a marathon runner and while I love to run,I can only dream about doing 26.2 miles again! These days, I am more into yoga and pilates. An avid sports fan, I love basketball, futebol and American football, all kinds of sports. I have very eclectic tastes in art and music, from Debussy and Bizet to Wyclef Jean, Manu Chao and Youssou N'Dour. I adore the poetry of M.C. Solaar. I love orchids and my dogs.

I love to travel with my family. Paris could easily be my second home, but I also have a real love for Salvador, Bahia.Recently, I discovered the beautiful town of Paraty in Rio state. Speaking of Brazil, I am a telenovela fanatic. I subscribe to the major Brazilian TV network via satellite and tv5monde as well. My blog is called Laura Loves Languages. Please feel free to visit.

Ask me to describe myself and I will say that I am an optimistic, generally enthusiastic individual. I throw myself 200% into everything I believe is worth doing. I am a serious person, but I don't take anything too seriously. In fact, I really like a good joke - but, enough about me...