Language-learning can be tough if it feels strictly academic, no? In my first few Spanish classes, I played around with the language. When I was laughing and smiling in class, I learned the material quickly, retained more information, and grew comfortable with making mistakes. So, let's make Spanish fun and accessible! Let's make some mistakes and learn from them! Let's make it about you, the student, and your journey through the Spanish language and el mundo (the world) beyond!

In our first session, let's get to know each other! From the first "Hola" we can begin learning, but let's keep it fun and easy for now. We can listen to some music, chat, and I'll ask you some questions. It will be a great time to use some basic grammar and vocab if you know it! I want to know how you learn best, what challenges you, and what you want to get out of our sessions together. I want to know what you like to do, and how you foresee yourself using Spanish in the future. If you are anxious to get going, we can do some fun, simple exercises, and we will wrap it up with plans for the next session.

I hope that your journey through the Spanish language is a communal one. After all, speaking Spanish with people is the best way to learn. I hope that you find times to practice the language with friends, classmates, and teachers. However, your relationship with the language will be a very personal one, and I will give you some tools to practice and learn on your own time. These tools will depend on your interests and comfortability with the language. I have found movies, music, sports, and language apps to be particularly helpful for making me comfortable with the language.

I will always be available to my students via email, phone, and social media should they have questions or concerns. I will text or call them regularly to see how they are doing and how practice is going. Our sessions will be fun. If the student and their parents are willing, we will spend some sessions at restaurants, or we might find a play or other fun activities that allow us to immerse ourselves in the language. Many Spanish educations lack real life application. Let's change that. Ultimately, I want to be viewed as a helpful friend with Spanish experience rather than a tutor.

Congratulate them! They have learned maybe the most important lesson when it comes to language-learning. It's tough, and it's not always fun. Mistakes in Spanish are crucial, and I will encourage the student to make them with confidence. Mistakes can be fixed; building confidence is a tougher task, so we will start early. Let's look at the skill or concept in a different way, and apply it in fun situations. If we can't get it, we'll come back to it later. We will not beat ourselves up about it, however. This is Spanish fun hour with Senor Mike, not bootcamp.

If a student is struggling with reading comprehension, we will slow it down and break it down. Maybe we will do several read-throughs focusing on something specific each time, but we won't focus on understanding the whole thing right away. Reading comprehension in Spanish is tough; it's as simple as that.