Why we Love Learning Spanish with Our Online Tutor

In this post, I wanted to share with you why we love learning Spanish with our online tutor so much. But first some background. At 6 years old, Rosie asked if she could learn how to speak Spanish. It was a language I’d always wanted to study, so, following her lead, we embarked on a program to teach ourselves the basics of this language.

This worked well up to a point. We used a variety of resources to help us memorise the most used vocabulary. Thanks to the fantastic Michel Thomas CDs, we discovered how to conjugate and use the various tenses for the regular and irregular verbs. We even practised daily, attempting to speak in this new language.

But something was missing.

As a non-Spanish speaker at the time, I needed help. Thankfully, as God always provides, just as I realised this, I happened upon a recommendation of an online Spanish tutor. Perfect timing! And so, the lovely Iciar, from How to Unlock Spanish, came into our lives. She was our first academic tutor and is quite simply exceptional.

Iciar doesn’t know I’m writing this post, but she’s had such a profound impact on our lives, that I wanted to share how valuable a good tutor can be for your homeschool, and what that can look like.

Bringing in a Specialist

Before contacting Iciar, I had pangs of guilt that I’d in some way failed in my homeschooling teacher role by not being able to teach them everything they needed to know! I share this with you as I suspect it’s a feeling to which homeschoolers can relate. With the benefit of hindsight, it was a ridiculous notion (see this post). The best managers in organisations know when they need to outsource a particular skill or service. This really is no different. After just a week of 1:1 lessons, I lost all sense of guilt. As a native Spaniard, with an in-depth of knowledge of her beloved country and the Hispanosphere, alongside experience in the requirements for the different UK exam boards, I appreciated very quickly what a treasured asset she would be for our family.

How It Works

For three years, Rosie, Harry and I have had regular weekly 1:1 online lessons with her. Under her guidance, both children sat their Spanish GCSE exams at 13 years old (exams we normally sit in the UK at 16), and achieved the highest grade (Grade 9, equivalent to an A**) with Rosie getting an incredible 98%.

More importantly though, they can both speak Spanish to a high standard. Rosie fell in love with the language so much she’s studying it further, with the intention of taking higher level qualifications, and one day becoming a fluent speaker.

My weekly Spanish lessons not only provide a model to my children that learning is a lifelong pursuit, but also offer something just for me. It’s my time, to focus on something that both stretches me intellectually and brings me joy.

In addition to the 1:1s, there are plans for Rosie to have a small group lesson with a few students of her ability. Iciar plans for them to have topic debates, and for each individual to present to the group about topics they’ve researched. E.g. they might each examine a different Spanish artist or South American country, and share their findings together.

Alongside the lessons, Iciar creates Quizlets for you to learn any unknown vocabulary from the week, and sets (and marks) all homework. Thus, you can relax knowing she has your children’s Spanish learning completely covered!

If they’re studying for a specific exam, she has a wide variety of tips and tricks for how to gain top marks. She’s also on hand during the exam period to assist if you need it. For example, she spent an hour speaking with them before their orals to warm up their fluency: invaluable support!

Creative Ways of Learning

In my opinion, the very best teachers are both creative in their teaching and able to flex their approach to suit the learning style of the individual. Iciar is very adept at this, checking in regularly that you’re happy with her method.

Here are three completely different examples:

1. A Painting with Meaning

One of my favourite tasks she set was to study Salvador Dali’s ‘Book to Birds’ painting and in Spanish, write about what it means to me. I was unfamiliar with this great work, but one look and I was drawn into its evocative depths.

To me, it represents the hope of escaping the often-limiting stories of our past, and bravely flying to new heights, trying and succeeding at things we hitherto thought impossible. At that time, it was something I’d been battling with, which Iciar knew from our weekly chats. Thus, in that piece of work, she not only introduced me to one of the Spanish masters but also provided a powerful visible representation of the optimism I needed. This was no accident. She cares deeply about her students, carefully considering their personal as well as academic needs.

2. Competitive Children!

For a time, Rosie and Harry had joint sessions alongside their 1:1s. Iciar worked out a positive way to tap into the competitiveness between them. During part of these lessons, she had them play the online game Kahoot! This turned out to be the perfect way for them to learn their vocabulary, so keen were they to outdo one another and be the ultimate winner!

3. Immersive Experiences

For Rosie, a keen actress, Iciar recommended studying Lorca’s intensely passionate play ‘La Casa de Bernada Alba’. Each week, Rosie translated the text and together they had animated in-depth discussions about each theme (Iciar even wrote this study guide for the play to aid understanding).

But to really bring it to life, she organised visits to the Cervantes Theatre in London to watch the play being performed in Spanish, and to the National Theatre for an English version. Watching the passionate power of the actresses, as the lights, noise, heat and emotions rose steadily around us, building up the tension before the final act, is something I doubt Rosie will ever forget. La Casa is a play to be experienced, not simply read off the page.

Grammar

Even the grammar is fun to learn as Iciar has designed imaginative ways to help you remember various rules. She’ll teach you these in isolation, but then you continually practise throughout your Spanish conversation. What I love is that she doesn’t expect you to remember it all immediately (thank goodness!). Instead, she keeps cycling back to tricky grammar aspects, to embed them in your memory without it feeling stressful.

Introduction of Fascinating Topics

It’s not solely your Spanish which improves during Iciar’s lessons, but also your general knowledge, scientific understanding, cultural exposure, historical education and much more. This might be achieved through a reading exercise, listening to a Spanish podcast or via a rabbit hole you dive down together on one of your weekly chats.

Together, we’ve covered topics as wide-ranging as the lost children of Francoism; how to make gazpacho soup; the lithium trade in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile; or the lifestyle of a Spanish gypsy. One day, I arrived home to find Harry and Iciar chatting about the derivation of the English language, considering the many influences, all whilst speaking in Spanish. I was somewhat blown away!

And of course, Spanish current affairs are picked apart and used to highlight any underlying problems in the country. Examples are the political problems which exacerbated the impact of the recent floods in Valencia or the Luis Rubiales kiss, underlining the sexism that still sadly exists.

Travel Recommendations

As in everything with Iciar, if you ask for advice, she will go far beyond what you expect. We’ve taken several short trips to Spain over the years, and her recommendations of where to go, what to see, activities to try or food to taste, have all been excellent.

Recently though, she outdid herself when we planned a four-week road trip in the country. Using Padlet (a visual collaboration board), she mapped out a route for us, taking in the best Spain has to offer. Although we added in a few extra activities/places, we pretty much followed her lead. Over the four weeks, we experienced a beautiful mix of outdoor adventures in stunning scenery, from surfing to canyoning; cultural experiences, from fiery flamenco to classical concerts in roman amphitheatres; historical immersion, such as a tour of the Alhambra palace or neolithic cave paintings; along with delicious food recommendations.

To add to the experience, she discussed each area/activity with the children before the trip, so once there, their knowledge made it feel all the more special. Rosie, for example, was super excited when we arrived at Gaudi’s Capricho. She’d already learned many of the unique architectural features he’d woven into the design of the house, so was thrilled to see these in real life.

A Friend

Over the years, Iciar has become like a confidante. Each week, we spend a large part of our hour’s session chatting in Spanish about our lives: discussing things that frustrate us, make us joyful, proud or even just sad.

She cares deeply about you and your family. Whenever the kids have an important cricket trial or acting audition, she never fails to wish them luck and pray for them. Similarly, when they have a success, even if it’s nothing to do with Spanish, they will excitedly tell her all about it.

I cherish this relationship. I feel blessed to call the person who has helped us all so much with our Spanish, my good friend.