I'm a Spanish and international affairs major at the University of New Hampshire. I'm a UNH senior this year, although I have only spent two years at the university. I spent academic year 2009-2010 in Valencia, Spain to improve my Spanish abilities. I have been back to the area twice. I'm very comfortable speaking, reading, and writing the language. I've given class presentations in Spanish, done family dinners in Spanish, even celebrated festivals in Spanish. I'm comfortable tutoring all levels of Spanish.
My minor in college is Mandarin Chinese. This is my fourth year studying Mandarin, and I am spending it studying in Chengdu, China. My Mandarin Chinese is decent, and I'd be comfortable tutoring beginner levels.
I believe in a conversational approach, starting with basics, and giving a student the ability to build their vocabulary around the base. For example, basic verbs in Spanish include tener, ser, estar, hacer, etc. Giving a student the opportunity to use the vocabulary in a conversational setting will likely have the best results, as opposed to just memorizing words, because it gives meaning to the new vocabulary beyond what is written on the page. If a student has his or her own material, I am also happy to help go over it and teach the tricks that I used to learn the material.
back to top