By Amy Keum
Staff Writer

Michael “Miska” Vincze is new to the foreign language department this year. He will be teaching Latin.

Q: So what made you decide to work at Westford Academy?

A: When I first heard heard that there was an opening, I really didn’t know that much about the school. But then I got to know some of the other Latin teachers and how Latin is a very popular language here which got me really excited. Plus, just meeting everyone, everyone was so nice and helpful. When I came to give my mock lesson, the students were just really great. They were just very responsive, I mean, considering that I was a total stranger in that classroom. Everyone just seemed to be very cooperative, answering questions, and working very hard so it seemed like a school that I wanted to be a part of.

Q: How long have you been teaching for?

A: This is my first year teaching high school actually. But I have been teaching Latin and General Humanities courses for six years now, just at a university level. So, I was teaching at Boston University and Boston College but this is my first year at a high school.

Q: Is there anything that specifically led you to teach Latin?

A: I started studying Latin because I wanted to be a Romance Language major. I wanted to study Spanish, French, and Italian. But my first semester I decided to take Latin just for fun and I liked it so much that I stopped taking Spanish classes and started taking Greek the next year. Before I knew it, I was a Classical Studies major instead of a Romance Language major. So, sort of by accident, but I’m very happy it happened.

Q: What college did you attend?

A: I went to Loyoyla University in Maryland.

Q: Is that where you grew up, in Maryland?

A: I did grow up in Maryland. I grew up about an hour away from Baltimore in a town called North East, Maryland, so I didn’t go very far away to go to college. It took until grad school and then I came up to Boston and that was a big change.

Q: So you’ve been enjoying your time here so far?

A: Yeah sure, well it’s only my third week of school and it’s a lot of work, but it’s been a lot of fun. The students are really good and the faculty is so nice, so it’s hard not to enjoy my time here.

Q: So when you’re not teaching, what do you like to do in your free time?

A: I enjoy singing. I sing with the Metropolitan Chorale of Brookline and we actually just started our season.

Q: What kind of things do you sing?

A: We sing mostly classical choral music. This season we’re singing some pieces by Bach. A couple years ago we did the Brahms German Requiem, so mostly classical choral music. I enjoy singing. When I get a chance I also really enjoy baking. That’s the other thing I really enjoy doing.

Q: Where did you learn to bake?

A: At home from my family. I remember when I was really little, my first time baking was with my grandmother. I think I was like four or five, and we were baking biscuits and hers came out very nicely and mine came out like little crackers. They were awful and they were really hard and dry. But that didn’t deter me. I still enjoyed the whole thing so I kept on working at it and I think I’ve gotten a lot better since then. At least that’s what people tell me, so they seem to like what I make.

Q: What was your favorite subject in high school?

A: I guess English was probably my favorite. I always liked history but I was never particularly good at it.

Q: What is it about languages that draws you in?

A: I just think they’re very interesting; just the whole concept of being able to speak a foreign language and how the grammar and vocabulary works differently. My father is actually a non-native English speaker, he’s Hungarian. So when I was growing up, I grew up around a lot of people not speaking English. It was so cool that they could start speaking what made no sense to me whatsoever but they all somehow could make sense of it. So I always thought it was really fascinating. Whether it was English, Latin, or Spanish I just still think it’s pretty amazing.