About Me
My name is Ani Astourian. This will be my thirteenth year at Pine Hollow middle school, where I have taught French, Spanish and Exploratory (world cultures) to so many wonderful students. I feel fortunate that thanks to my background I can speak five languages. Thanks to my Armenian origins I speak Western Armenian. Growing up in Lebanon helped me learn Arabic, French and English. I studied French Literature and Linguistics at the University of Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, France. When I moved to the US, I studied Spanish and earned dual credentials in French (UCLA) and in Spanish (CSET test). All these years I have realized that knowing a language very well will help you to learn new ones. I must admit, though, that Arabic has been a tough one to learn, and I don’t consider myself fluent in it.
I have a funny husband and three fabulous kids. All grown-ups now! I have two daughters and one son. I tried to instill in them the love of languages and to convince them to learn as many languages as they can!
In my free time, I love reading and watching movies. I read in all the languages I have mentioned. I also like gardening, chasing the squirrels and watching the pretty hummingbirds and butterflies visiting my garden. I should not forget to mention that I also enjoy taking walks on the beach, swimming in the ocean and listening to all kinds of music. Here are some of my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjaeHkVHVA0 (Shostakovitch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTBRu1rNOAE (Charlie Winston)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN8fw8M18U8 (Reinhardt)
And some of my favorite art!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-muTmGr05XIU/UFd71rjZlxI/AAAAAAAAFtA/UYieUaXpyBA/s640/miro68.jpg (Miro)
http://www.pacegallery.com/artists/66/alexander-calder (Calder)
http://www.a-r-t.com/tamayo/pages/tamayo-sandias-1980.htm (Tamayo)
http://www.paulklee.net/images/paintings/Senecio-1922.jpg (Klee)
http://www.pablopicasso.org/images/paintings/guernica.jpg (Picasso)
I have a funny husband and three fabulous kids. All grown-ups now! I have two daughters and one son. I tried to instill in them the love of languages and to convince them to learn as many languages as they can!
In my free time, I love reading and watching movies. I read in all the languages I have mentioned. I also like gardening, chasing the squirrels and watching the pretty hummingbirds and butterflies visiting my garden. I should not forget to mention that I also enjoy taking walks on the beach, swimming in the ocean and listening to all kinds of music. Here are some of my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjaeHkVHVA0 (Shostakovitch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTBRu1rNOAE (Charlie Winston)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN8fw8M18U8 (Reinhardt)
And some of my favorite art!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-muTmGr05XIU/UFd71rjZlxI/AAAAAAAAFtA/UYieUaXpyBA/s640/miro68.jpg (Miro)
http://www.pacegallery.com/artists/66/alexander-calder (Calder)
http://www.a-r-t.com/tamayo/pages/tamayo-sandias-1980.htm (Tamayo)
http://www.paulklee.net/images/paintings/Senecio-1922.jpg (Klee)
http://www.pablopicasso.org/images/paintings/guernica.jpg (Picasso)