Learning Spanish from a young age has allowed me to see the world from an entirely new cultural lens and, more importantly, has enabled me to view American or Western culture from an outside point of view. Doing so has made me realize that the United States does not put enough emphasis on learning a second language, specifically Spanish. As a result, we are limited in how we see and interact with the world and other nations.
I wish to take my experience studying Spanish and completing a Bachelors of Arts in Spanish to help others explore Hispanic culture by studying the Spanish language. I would concentrate on teaching grammar, with an emphasis on its communicate and conversational application, Spanish conversation, and critically analyze both American and Hispanic cultures as a whole to be able to draw distinctions and gain awareness about their own cultural lens. Furthermore, I wish to draw on my experiences with my TEFL certification, such as creating and carrying out lesson plans about teaching English, towards creating authentic, relevant lesson activities for tutoring Spanish so that they can reinforce and relate to the content they may have gone over in class. Lastly, my experience working in customer service and with children as a chess coach has given me valuable interpersonal skills which I use to be able to connect with students and focus on strengthening the learning strategy that works for them.
