Tracy D. Terrell graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a PhD in linguistics. He became an important American Hispanist and theoretical linguist. He taught at the University of California, Irvine from 1970 until 1985. Then, he took a job in the linguistics department at the at the University of California, San Diego. He retired in 1989, and finally died of AIDS in 1991. Along with Stephen Krashen, he developed the “Natural Approach” to second language learning. This was a popular way of teaching second languages. He was also well known and respected for his work in Hispanic linguistics. Dr. Terrell was fluent in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch.