Simon Hoepfner will spice up the Spanish language in his Berthoud High School classrooms after seeing the first written Spanish words as well as art, food and more while traveling the path of the Spanish language.

Following the Spanish route

The first words ever written in Spanish were penned by monks in monasteries at San Millan de la Cogolla, a stop on Hoepfner's trip through Spain to see, taste and experience Spanish culture in the areas of Spain that are key on the journey of the Spanish language. Active, cloistered monks still live and thrive at these monasteries, which are 1,000 years old. Another stop on his journey was at a university with ties to Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote, and that still offers literary awards for new works. Books and poems are key ways that the Spanish language spread worldwide from its first written words, according to Hoepfner.

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