Spanish Classes (for real this time)

My husband and I started this blog/feeble attempt at teaching Spanish classes over a year ago. While we received quite a bit of interest, we had virtually no students. Part of that was my fault. I was working full-time, and 40 hours a week in the office leaves little time for teaching Spanish classes and much less time for advertising them.

However, circumstances have changed a bit since last year, and starting December 7, I will no longer be employed. This leaves me quite a bit of time to teach and tutor Spanish and even more for advertising.

Now all we need are students. From now until the end of the year I am going to work on developing a fun and solid curriculum to help everyone with their New Year's resolution of learning a new language. So get excited, and let your friends in the Salt Lake City area know!

(We will also be offering online classes through Skype starting at the beginning of the year.)

Introducing...ONLINE CLASSES

We have had a bit of interest expressed in online classes from our friends outside of Utah. We are pleased to announce that we will now be offering online classes starting in October.

What you will need:

• A reliable Internet connection
• Skype

All online classes will be on an individual basis, but classes are only $10 per class. To get the most out of your Spanish learning experience, it is recommended that you take 2-3 classes a week, but online students will be free to choose their schedule based on their availability. 

Send us an e-mail and sign up for online classes today!

**As of right now, payment will be acceptable only through mail, check or money order.

How Spanish Changed my Life. Seriously.

I started taking Spanish classes my freshman year of high school in San Diego. I was fascinated by the idea of being able to communicate in another language. Progress was somewhat slow, but I loved learning.

I continued taking Spanish throughout high school. I had made a goal to be bilingual by the time I graduated. My senior year of high school I put even more effort into it by constantly checking out movies in Spanish from the public library. I would watch them and try to pick up on vocabulary by reading the subtitles.

Still, by June 6, 2006 - graduation day - I was definitely not bilingual. I didn't give up on Spanish, though. My first year of college I was determined to continue studying Spanish.

That year I made more progress than the previous 4 years combined. My professor focused a lot on our accents and how to make our Spanish sound more fluid. I also met with a tutor each week, which definitely helped. Soon I decided that I had progressed as far as I could with my Spanish without leaving the country.

I decided to study abroad in Guadalajara, Mexico. I was only there for 6 weeks, but it was just what I needed to boost my confidence in my Spanish.

Volunteering in Guadalajara, 2007

After my trip, something changed. Now, when people asked me if I spoke Spanish, instead of replying timidly, "Um...un poquito.." I would proudly declare, "Si!!!" Now, by no means was my Spanish perfect, or even as good as it is today, 5 years later. But having that confidence gave me the opportunities I needed to get better.

In my second year of college, one of my roommates was from Mexico City. I was so excited to have someone to practice my Spanish with. My roommate, Claudia, introduced me to many of her friends, and before I knew it, I was out Salsa dancing nearly every Friday night with my new Latino buddies, speaking almost nothing BUT Spanish.

Dancing...like always, 2008

I grew to love those people so much. There is something very endearing about talking to a person in their native language. I found that I could start conversations with complete strangers that I would meet if I heard them speaking Spanish. A whole new world was opening up to me.

After my sophomore year of college, I returned to Mexico to teach English for a while. My Spanish was getting better with every year that I spoke it. And I found that had made amazing friendships with people I may not have even been able to talk to before.

Teaching English in Hermosillo, Mexico, 2008

In 2009, I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. I lived there for 18 months. While there, I met an amazing man named Diego, a fellow missionary, who (much) later became my husband. Our relationship would have been virtually impossible had I not been able to speak Spanish.

As a missionary in Honduras, 2010

Because of the decision I made as a 14-year-old girl to take a Spanish class, my life has been completely changed. I have learned so much about other people and places. I have made wonderful friends, and am married to the love of my life.

At the beach in Lima, Peru, with Diego, 2012

Now, Spanish may not have that kind of effect on your life, but it will change it in some way, I promise. There are amazing, wonderful, friendly people out there who would love to tell you their story. And not everyone gets the opportunity to learn English. Soooo....let's learn Spanish!

Enrollment Event

We've been getting various requests for information on our classes, but no definite enrollment yet. So, to motivate everyone, we are holding a two-night enrollment event.

When: Wednesday, August 29, 6pm-8pm
           Thursday, August 30, 6pm-8pm

Where: 8828 South 3900 West
            West Jordan, UT 84088

What: Open Enrollment for Spanish classes.
          Come take an placement test, or take a short sample class!
          Sign up for a schedule that fits your schedule.

You can RSVP on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/events/474400629245965/

Everyone sucks to begin with

When I was around 11 years old, my good friend Alejandra, invited me to go to Disneyland with her and her family. On the car ride there, her little 8 year old cousin was marvelling over the fact that I didn't speak Spanish. She tried to teach me the word for bird--pájaro. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not say it right. I was embarrassed. I definitely sucked at Spanish.

In 2009, I was visiting my hometown in San Diego. Alejandra, had gotten a hold of my number and we were planning on meeting up. We talked on the phone for a while. It was different than any other conversation we'd ever had, because it was the first time we were talking to each other completely in Spanish.

After a while Alejandra remarked, "I would have never imagined that one day I would be able to talk to you in Spanish."

I would have to second that sentiment. Nor would I have ever imagined that one day I would marry an adorable Peruvian, whom I would nearly only ever speak to in Spanish.

But here I am, ten years after entering my very first Spanish class as a freshman in high school, prepared to teach others how to start the incredible journey of language learning.

Now, there are plenty of reasons to learn Spanish. Unfortunately, there is one enormous, flagrant reason not to learn Spanish. It is this:

Everyone sucks to begin with.

We live in a time and society where we want everything fast. We don't want to have to spend years and years, or even months, getting good at something. There should be a YouTube tutorial for everything that will teach us how to be masters of any subject. However, even with all of the advancements in technology and information, you are still going to suck at Spanish to begin with.

Don't let that scare you! You sucked at English to begin with, too. Ask your mom and dad. It's just that, as little children, we have a lot fewer inhibitions. We aren't worried what people will think when we pronounce a word wrong or use incorrect grammar or if our accent is weird.

So if the biggest impediment of learning Spanish is that you are afraid of sounding stupid, don't worry! We all sounded stupid at one point. You can't get better if you don't suck first. You won't learn a language without making thousands and thousands of mistakes. But it is worth it, and it is possible to do.

Ten Reasons to Learn Spanish

1. You'll look really cool when you can correctly pronounce the food at your favorite Mexican restaurant.

2. Learning a second language is cognitively stimulating.

3. In this tough job market, being bilingual is always a plus.

4. You can make so many more friends!

5. You will realize that those Hispanic ladies next to you in the store are, in fact, not talking about you.

6. Spanish is a great gateway language to learn other romance languages, such as Portuguese, French, and Italian.

7. It is scientifically proven that if you speak Spanish, you will automatically dance better (maybe).

8. Spanish has more native speakers worldwide than any language other than Mandarin Chinese. And Chinese is WAY harder than Spanish.

9. Antonio Banderas speaks Spanish. So does Pitbull.

10. Learning another language will build your self-confidence and help you to achieve other goals in your life as well.

Classes start September 4th

We are offering beginning, intermediate, and advanced Spanish classes.

The schedule is tentatively 6-7 pm and 7-8 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Tutoring sessions are available by appointment. This may change due to interest and demand.

We may also be offering a children's class on Saturday mornings for kids ages 6-11. Please let us know if there is any interest.

Classes will take place in our home in West Jordan, Utah.