The Program

Only in Spanish

From the very first Spanish class, students will use only Spanish. Our tutors are very adept at simplifying their Spanish and sometimes using non-verbal ways to communicate to all levels. Even for total beginners this is far more effective, and also more fun, than translating back and forth from English.

The point is, you will communicate completely in Spanish as the instructor monitors your progress and leads you onto higher levels of fluency. You will develop a direct understanding of the language and you will gain confidence in paraphrasing and expressing your meaning at every stage of your learning.

Studies show that those who learn through a direct approach will learn at a faster pace, and use the language with more flexibility and confidence. Our experience is also that learners are pleasantly surprised, even enthusiastic, about how much better they learn and how interesting these classes are. In one student’s words: “I have no idea how he does it, but Juan Luis took a complete non-speaker of Spanish and got me both speaking and understanding the language without ever using English. It has been amazing.”

Of course, while our goal is to keep classes fun and engaging, there is also work to be done. After all, learning a language isn’t effortless; and so we assign homework in keeping with your busy life schedule, and expect you to work in part on your own toward your success.

Four Skills

Learning Spanish is a process that requires the development of four essentials skills: speaking (including pronunciation), listening, reading and writing. If any of these are neglected, the whole process will be affected. Spanish Tutor DC ensures that, between class time and outside practice, students will progress in all skill areas.

Class Time is for Speaking and Listening

During class time you will be encouraged to speak, speak and speak. While this may seem daunting to you now, it is actually less stressful and more effective. We will provide homework assignments for practice to reinforce your Spanish with reading, writing and more listening.

How About Grammar?

The teacher must thoroughly know the grammar and be able to explain it. How about students? Must they know everything about grammar? Not necessarily. Some students naturally prefer to learn grammar from overt explanations, while others enjoy learning implicitly through conversation, reading, writing and listening. “The best method” to learn Spanish must encourage the student to learn Spanish in his or her own way, always considering that from the very beginning we are going to speak, read, write and listen only in Spanish. It is our job to work with the student and discover how they learn best.

Activities

We use several complementary activities to improve your Spanish, such as talking about Spanish TV series you will watch online, discussing articles and making presentations in class. The goal is to make the Spanish class as enjoyable as possible and to appeal to different learning styles.

Read the following opinions of past and current students here.