He attended the Army Language School in Monterey, California to study Russian and attained a rating of Fluent in all language skills. On a tour of duty in Germany, he regularly used German for day-to-day communication, and Russian at a sensitive intelligence gathering outpost on the border between the, then, East Germany and West Germany. He has lived in Mexico under the NDEA Spanish teacher summer enhancement program while teaching high school Spanish classes in Virginia Beach (6 years). He spent four weeks in Japanese immersion in 1985 as a faculty advisor for an exchange program sponsored by the University of South Florida. Dr. Gurney's language experience extends to opera, as well, since he sings with the Orlando Camerata Opera Chorus. Performances have been predominantly in Italian opera with infrequent productions in French.
Dr. Gurney's professional language experience, also, includes teaching Spanish at the Florida State University School in grades 6 - 12, teaching English to adult Vietnamese at UCF, and college level Russian for a class of gifted high school students at Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Florida. In addition, he has directed three summer intensive Spanish institutes for trainers in the Florida Migratory Child Compensatory Program.
Dr. Gurney has conducted numerous workshops at state, regional and national conferences for both foreign languages and social studies, the latter on interdisciplinary possibilities between foreign languages and social studies, among other topics. Dr. Gurney has been a long time member of the FFLA, its President and Executive Secretary and was a Board member for many years. He authored the FFLA Constitution which, except for minor changes, was the foundation of the present organization's operations. An innovative review workbook for Spanish III was listed among new publications in the Fall 1994 National Textbook Company catalogue. He has had discussions with another publisher on a college level 1st year Spanish textbook for which he would serve as chief editor. A sample chapter of a proposed publication of some of the FLES ideas that he presented at the 1993 ACTFL conference was reviewed, as well, by American Discovery Publications.
Many workshops presented by Dr. Gurney grow out of a decade long commitment to finding cultural bases for foreign language structures and as the focus for instruction. This commitment led to his orientation of culture as a bridge to the elementary curriculum which is the basis for an orientation toward content-based FLES. Since conducting one of the first state institutes based on the new state curriculum for Foreign Languages K - 6, which he helped develop, that outlined training for a new certification in Foreign languages, K - 12, Dr. Gurney has taught K - 6 methods in a course designed around this state approved curriculum for Foreign Languages in the Elementary School.