Foreign Language

Spanish

Biography

I was born in the Santiago, Dominican Republic. My parents migrated to Puerto Rico when I was four years old. Spanish culture has always been a part of my life. My elementary school years were spent in Puerto Rico, and then when I was 13, my parents moved to the Upper West Side in New York City where I continued to immersed in a Spanish community, but now within the continental  United States. These changes helped build my confidence, and have given me the ability to teach the language to others at a comfortable
level for writing, reading and speaking. Even though I graduated with an AS degree in Marketing & Merchandising from the state of Florida, I have found that my Spanish skills have helped me land good jobs throughout my career. I have used my Spanish speaking skills to translate documents and translate
for clients from South America, Europe, and the Caribbean during my 20 years
in the finance world.

Another benefit of knowing Spanish, came when I was living abroad in Italy back in the year 2000. I started teaching private Spanish lesson to the neighborhood family kids for supplemental income. I also did basic
conversational Spanish lectures to students at my two oldest children’s elementary school at Aviano Air Force Base. My three wonderful kids have all benefited from my spanish background within their Spanish class at school. Homework, projects become quite a bit easier with mom there to help. I greatly enjoy mentoring and feel proud for those who want to learn a new language, especially Spanish. It is not easy, and I know that for a fact, since I had to learn English as my second language. I commend parents and students
that wants to introduce the use of a second language into their child’s life. It has many life benefits such as traveling to Spanish countries to broaden cultural awareness, meeting new friends that only speak Spanish, and much
broader job opportunities. It gives me great satisfaction to make a difference in others’ lives by sharing and teaching what I know. I have a passion to transfer conversational skills, words, and songs as a way of learning a new language, especially to those that are eager to learn - whether it is by tutoring, volunteering, in the workforce,
or even just socializing.

Why I teach?

I have a positive attitude and a passion to assist and motivate struggling learners. I find, from my own experience, that people learn things differently, and at different paces. When students struggle with a subject, it’s usually because their learning style conflicts with the style or pace with which it is being taught. Tutoring one on one gives the opportunity to learn at the student’s optimal pace, and it allows me to learn different methods to teach that particular student, as well as other students in the future. We are both learning at the same time, the student is learning a language, and I am learning different approaches and skills to become better teacher.

Fun Facts

• Have been in short movies with non-speaking and speaking roles...shhhh
• Love meeting people of all ages always something new to learn
• I ran the 10 mile Broad Street Run in 2018 with no specific training
• I was a military wife for 20 years
• Cheese lover

In my free time, I enjoy traveling, exercising, meditating, watching my youngest son playing basketball, meeting new people randomly, taking long walks, running, and quality family time.