Spanish Classes in New York by experienced Spanish tutor

Yes, I am a Native Spanish Speaker, fluent in Spanish and English. Raised in Argentina with parents from Spain, I have traveled extensively throughout Spain and Latin America. I have both Spanish and American citizenship. I originally came to the United States awarded with a Fullbright Scholarship. My education began with a Master's Degree in Education and Fine Arts from the Prilidiano Pueyrredon National University from Buenos Aires, Argentina, a Bachelors' Degree in Spanish Language from SUNY Albany, another Master's Degree in Spanish Education from Queens College, and New York State Permanent Teaching Certification in Spanish. I also have trained under the Rassias' Method at Fordham University, and am a Certified Translator from NYU. I have more than eleven years experience teaching Spanish. My experience includes teaching at NYU and many Spanish Language Schools, and I utilize the latest teaching methodology. If you are interested, please look over my education and experience as a Spanish language teacher and tutor in New York City and abroad.

How much do classes cost, and what days and times do they meet?

Please go to prices and schedule.

How long does it take to learn Spanish? How fast can I learn Spanish?

Any honest and serious instructor will give you the same answer: It is up to you depending on how much time and energy you invest, how long you study the language, the frequency of the classes, and how much you practice at home.

This program is based on your needs, therefore the amount of time will vary. Most students starting this program from zero (attending classes twice a week) achieve a good level of fluency in less than one year. An advanced knowledge of the language may take from one to two years. If you are already fluent in another Romance language such as Portuguese, Italian or French you have a considerable advantage. You'll be able to speak the language in a relatively short time but it could take up to two years to be fully fluent.

I teach Monday to Friday. The first class starts at 10:00 am, and the last one starts at 10:00 pm.
During the first class I will determine your level and decide the strategy to work together.
If you would like to e-mail me, I can answer any questions that you have.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Why should I choose Spanish Classes in New York over another School?

• You learn faster here than in any other school.
• You learn with highly focused and effective learning methods.
• Overall student success rate is over 90% for students who start and finish the program.

In practical terms it means that you'll be able to sit down and talk with a native Spanish speaking person fairly comfortably for as long as you want.

What's the difference between your course materials and the books and tapes that I can buy at my local bookstore?

Methods, methods, methods. Learning is all about what you do, how you do it, when you do it and how many times you do something. I employ a very streamlined and focused process of learning that will allow you to truly learn this language. I not only tell you what to learn, I tell you how to learn. I not only tell you how to learn something I provide you with all the tools that you'll need to do so.

What's the difference between working with You and working with a private tutor from another school?

• I went through extensive training with The Rassias Method at Fordham University, New York, N.Y. ,to learn the most cutting edge teaching techniques available.
• A lot of untrained tutors will try to carry conversations in Spanish with you using a lot of words, phrases and structures that you've never been exposed to. This forces you to use your instructor as a "human dictionary." This is an expensive and ineffective use of your precious tutoring time.
• I work a very refined process of speaking with you within the framework of the knowledge that you've built through your course materials. If you're in Lesson 8 of Beginners Spanish Level I will carry a full conversation in Spanish with you within the framework of what you've learned from Lessons 1 through 8. As you go through your course materials you will learn so much that by the end of the course you can use everything well and have a very strong ability to converse well in all general areas of life.
• I am bilingual in Spanish and English and can answer any questions for you in English if necessary. This keeps you from using a lot of your tutoring session just trying to figure out how to ask a question.

What about all the different dialects in Spanish? Will I be able to communicate with people from all countries when I'm done with a Spanish Classes in New York course?

Yes, you'll be able to communicate with people from different countries. There is only one Spanish language. You will learn intimately and professionally a general Spanish to communicate with any Spanish speaking person. If you live in the United States can you talk with someone from Ireland or New Zeeland? If you live in California can you talk with someone from Florida? Of course! You won't understand every word spoken but you can sure carry a good conversation. By the way, a dialect is a different language that evolved out of a particular language. A dialect has different vocabulary and syntax. The differences between Puerto Ricans and Mexicans, for example, are not differences in "dialect," they are called regionalisms. When you're done with Advanced Spanish course you'll be able to talk with anyone who speaks Spanish no matter where they're from.

Will I remember what I learned or will I lose my Spanish quickly if I don't practice a lot with other people?

The reason that most people don't remember things that they've studied is because they didn't really learn it well in the first place. They "crammed" the information in and it was never really programmed into long-term memory. The key to getting information into long-term memory is to learn using techniques and methods that will produce long-term memory. You can be sure that all Spanish Classes in New York courses and training processes are designed to produce long-term memory.

I've heard that if you're around the language long enough you can just "pick it up." Why should I pay for a formal course?

The key word is "long enough!" It takes most adults 3 to 5 years living in the country to get to where they can use the language comfortably with no formal training. Do you have that much time and patience? The fact is that it takes a kid who has a blank slate two to three years to begin speaking decently and they are TOTALLY IMMERSED. Do not think that just by going down to Mexico for three months that you'll come back speaking well. It won't happen. Besides that, even if it did work, you don't have that kind of time to be away from work and family.

I've heard that the only way to really learn the language is to go and live in the country, is that true?

It's not even close to true. In fact, as you read in the answer to the last question, it takes three to five years living in the country for an adult to learn to speak well. The best way to learn is to apply the very best language learning techniques and methods available. It's not where you are at that produces good learning, it's what you're doing!

What is an immersion course?

When people are "immersed" in a language they are put under water (everything is in Spanish and leave your English at home) and most people drown. Have you ever heard something like, "the best way to learn is like a child" or "you should learn like the natives" or "try to think in Spanish."

Ask yourself a few questions.

• Are you a child?
• Are you a native?
• Do you think in Spanish?

If your answers to these questions was "yes, yes, yes" you should go to a school that teaches using the immersion methodology, if they were "no, no, no" keep reading. I always ask people to consider how long it takes a "native" or a "child" to learn his native language. They say, "two to three years." I then say, "if that's what you want, then choose an immersion approach because that's how long it will take." Also, if you think about it, that's total immersion, you know, living there in the environment. Think about how long it will take if you just go to an immersion class six hours a week!

Let's dig deep here and analyze this scenario. How old are you? Take your age and subtract two years. That is how many years you have been "thinking" in English if you are a native English speaker. For the first two years of your life your thought process was very "image based." If you saw a "pen" you picked it up, stuck it in your mouth and tried to discover what it's purpose was.

At about two you began learning to call these images by name. Pretty soon you became more and more "word based," in other words, you would see a "pen," and simply say the word "pen" and that was it. You didn't stick it in your mouth anymore, in fact, if someone dropped a pen on a table you didn't even think, "why did that person drop that thing to write with on the table?" No, you thought, "why did that person drop that pen on the table?"

Adults are very word based, not image based. We talk about traffic and don't see little BMW's, Fords or Hondas flashing through our heads. The reason for this is that it's easier to manage large bodies of information concretely rather than abstractly. Which is faster to download on your computer, something with heavy graphics or a text file? Text is always faster to process than graphics!

Back to "You." Let's say you are 35 years old. For 33 years now, minus two years for when were a baby, you have been thinking in English words. Every thought you have ever had has taken you directly to what type of words? That's right, English words. 33 years of established thought process in English. Here's an important question. Is it possible for "You" to superimpose over 33 years of thought process so that in 3 months, six months or even a year you will be "thinking" in Spanish?" Of course not! It would take 3 to 5 years of your living in a Spanish speaking environment, for this to happen.

You see, the immersion approach presupposes that you will "think" in Spanish. Everything you learn is taught to you in Spanish, it is assumed that you will somehow be able to go directly from a thought to Spanish words. You know, and I know, that this is ludicrous. I have talked with countless students who have tried the immersion route, and am told over and over that it is a very frustrating and slow learning experience.

Sometimes people will say, "the only way to learn is to go down and live there for a while." Not true. That's great to do AFTER you learn to master the language, not before. Please understand this, the quickest way to learn anything is to work from your strength, not weakness. It's very difficult to learn in a vacuum. Your strength is your English, not your Spanish. In his classic book, "The Seven Laws of Teaching," John Milton Gregory asserts that "the unknown must be learned from the known." This is accepted in all valid forms of training. It is high time we accept it in language training. It is faster, it is easier and it works. You don't, nor should you, learn in a vacuum, you learn best based on tangible, understood principles.

So, as it relates to immersion.

• You are not a child and you don't learn like a child.
• You are an adult with a very highly developed language infrastructure which should be used to your advantage.
• It is a slow and frustrating learning method for adults.
• It just plain doesn't make good sense!

One last word about immersion. There is a place for it. You should be in an immersion program when you already understand and have a mastery of the Spanish language and are just looking to "smooth out the language." Unfortunately, a lot of people pay for "language instruction" and are really only paying for somebody to try and talk with them in Spanish. The worst part about it is, is that many times they're trying to talk with you in Spanish and you don't even know Spanish yet!

Oh, I left something out. This goes for going to Spain or some other place you're learning to learn. It's not about "where" you're at, it's "how" . Now, if you want to go to Spain, wonderful! My parents and best friends are from there and I go from time to time. It's a great country.

I tried to learn in the past but was unsuccessful, do you really believe that I can be successful this time?

Almost all people who have tried to learn in the past, were unsuccessful because they did the wrong things, not because they couldn't learn. At Spanish Classes in New York you can be sure that you will do the right things. It will make all the difference in the world! Learning is all about doing the right things, at the right time and in the right ways. I'll make sure that things go as planned so that you really learn to communicate well THIS time. This will be your last stop Spanish shop!