My method has won me fans among private students and groups in the various institutions where I
have taught. I call my method Spanish for English Speakers
and it is geared towards raising my students' competency level quickly while focusing on vocabulary for specific professional
or personal needs. I combine clear explanations in English about grammar with intensive target language practice of verbs,
vocabulary and idiom.
My method is comparative: The
goal is to make clear parallels for my students between the grammatical organization of English and that of Spanish, showing
where the two languages function similarly and differently. In classes we focus on the differences which are more challenging
for students.
Early development of oral proficiency
is the goal. The emphasis is always on the student speaking, not the teacher. While beginner level classes involve
a lot of "prompting" in the target language by the teacher, in a short amount of time the student is talking about 70% of
the time in the target language.
I recognize that learning language is an emotional experience. It is hard for anyone who
is past early childhood to learn a new language without experiencing the negative emotion of feeling "stupid" or "silly".
I am patient and upbeat with my students and, together, we examine your "no good at language" mental blocks. We explore how
learning to speak Spanish is more than memorizing conjugations: It's a new and rich way to express yourself!
You CAN achieve reasonable fluency in Spanish! It doesn't have
to take years, and you don't have to move to a different country to do it! What's more, learning Spanish can be FUN and can
even change your life!
