Joan Hoffmeister was born in Italy. At the age of 5, her family
immigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina and there Joan started her
formal Spanish education. She grew up speaking both Spanish and
Italian at home. At the age of 15, she moved with her family to New
York City where she attended high school and college. After
receiving a Master’s degree in Spanish and French from Saint John’s
University, Joan taught for 9 years in the New York public school
system.
She then received a contract to teach Spanish, Italian and
French at the Tehran American School in Tehran, Iran. She taught
there for 5 years and then went on to Manama, Bahrain where she
taught English to the Bahrainis at the British Council and Batelco
Local University for another five years. Later, Joan received a
grant from the French government to attend a summer program at the
Language Institute in Becanson, France to enrich her knowledge of
the French language and culture. Joan has lived and traveled
extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.
Joan came to Naples, Florida in 1985 and has taught at Naples High
School, Barron Collier High School and Gulfview Middle School. She
has also taught French and Spanish at the Summer Program for
Children 5 – 12. Joan was awarded Teacher of Distinction by the
Collier County School System. Joan is passionate about teaching
other languages and cultures. She makes learning a language an
exhilarating experience by incorporating speaking, writing, and
reading along with the culture and customs of the people who speak
the language. Joan uses the technique of incorporating the target
language as much as possible in her instruction. Of course,
whenever necessary, she will use English to explain the difficult
concepts of grammar and language usage. She has the knowledge and
capability to implement just about every teaching technique or
means available to make a foreign language come alive. Joan is
truly a linguist with her many years of teaching experience.
