I started my teaching career at Carroll College in Helena, Montana, my alma mater. I later founded a language school in Kalispell, Montana teaching children, adults, and homeschoolers in a small-group setting. I now teach on Zoom, write short stories for Spanish students, and develop teaching materials for my students and other teachers.
Easy-to-read stories and materials with images are my first choice for beginning students. I focus on using high-frequency words in a story context and reinforce them with pictures and story retelling. Several years ago I discovered the book A Frequency Dictionary of Spanish by Mark Davies and it revolutionized my teaching strategy to include more high-frequency words in my lessons. It helped my beginning students communicate faster after learning those frequent words.
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I hold a bachelor's in Spanish from Carroll College in Helena, MT.
I came from my native country of Cuba at age seven not knowing a word of English. I remember feeling a little scared when the teacher would ask me something and I couldn't respond although I kind of understood what she was saying. I felt very frustrated! In this total immersion environment, it didn't take long to acquire English. I became the translator for my grandmother whenever we went out shopping. That experience makes me empathize with struggling students and makes me love teaching Spanish!
7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, Higher Education, Adult Education, Homeschool, Not Grade Specific
English Language Arts, World Languages, Spanish, ESL-EFL-ELL