Learning Spanish
About two years ago I decided to learn another language.
I know, you might think “Another language?”.
Since I work as a language tutor I think about language and language learning even more than before.
Why did I choose Spanish?
I was thinking of the next best language to learn after the 4 languages I already spoke fluently. Spanish was the logical choice. It is a language that is widely spoken in the world, similar to French and also the language I wasn’t able to learn at school when I was younger. I had given it a go already a few years back but never finished the class.
This time I took part in a Spanish class for a whole school year, once a week. It was very interesting to see how other people learn languages and which connections I could make through other languages to make the learning process a bit easier for myself.
After a year I decided that a tutor would be a better idea, first we were two students and now I have individual classes twice a week with Amanda.
How can I help my students?
Now, that I am an adult learner, I can help my own adult students better. If they talk to me about their challenges, I can reassure them that I feel the same or similar even though I already speak other languages and this is not my first language I learn. Also I can put myself better into their situation and I can plan more effectively for their needs and struggles.
It helps students to see that even their teacher is not magically learning a new language.
With children this helps me, as I can understand their struggles better as well and can try to find a better way for them, through my own experience.
Also I can introduce methods that my tutor uses with me and/or adjust my teaching with that influence.
Learning a new language benefits myself as well, not only so I can say I am fluent in an other language. Also the classes are my “Me-time”. I am not doing this for anyone else, it is only for myself.
Also why a private tutor?
I think group classes are a good way to get into a language but after the first level I felt I needed someone who could work with my skills and for my needs. Every session is planned for me and not for the benefit of the group. I can ask my questions and we can focus on my strengths and weaknesses and work with this.
This experience helps me as well to explain to people from a personal point of view why they should choose a private tutor for themselves or their children or if maybe a class would be the better option.