Germán Zárate-Sández

Dr. Germán Zarate-Sandez is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and teacher trainer at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. He first came to the United States from Argentina in 2005 as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at the University of Scranton, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. On his Fulbright to southern Brazil in 2022, he trained language teachers to develop sensitivity to different dialects of Spanish and English, both crucial languages for Brazil’s internationalization efforts. He also taught graduate modules for more advanced in-service teachers. 

As a teacher trainer, Germán has used results from his Fulbright experience to better prepare future language teachers in the state of Michigan. He developed a module on intercultural understanding that is now a permanent component of his teaching methods course, and plans to work with local universities and community colleges to implement the same approach in professional development courses for language teachers. Germán was invited to present the results of his Fulbright experience to several U.S. universities. He has also returned to Brazil to work on new research projects that have developed out of his Fulbright project. He mentors and serves on master’s committees for students from Western Michigan University, and continues to collaborate on research projects with universities in Brazil. 

Ask Me About: 

• Brazilian and Argentinian university culture 
• Identifying as an LGBTQIA+ scholar 
• Creating new collaborations at different universities in your host country 
• Being a bi-national applicant 
• Overcoming doubts about applying to Fulbright