Spanish teacher in an international school<

Spanish teacher in an international school

In doing a Spanish teaching course over the last few months, I have noticed how interesting my native language is. Often, as native speakers, we don't realise the richness, as much cultural as gramatical, that Spanish offers to those who don't speak it. It is for this reason that, in being part of an international school abroad, I have seen why people from other cultures are so interested in learning Spanish. While there are many non-native speakers who teach Spanish, which I don't see as a bad thing, I believe that natives will teach Spanish as an extension of themselves, since they will embody the culture and interest that a foreigner doesn’t feel in the same way. As we know, Spanish is the most popular second-language in the world, given that more than 20 countries speak it, as well as the known international fame that many of these countries have for their unmatched cultural richnesses.

While doing this course, I have had the opportunity to learn and understand how Spanish is not a simple language. This is apparent in the challenge of modelling the teaching and learning process in the best way, so that content is easy for the student to digest, allowing them to experience the cultural richness of realistic situations. In this way, the student is capable of appreciating what they have learned.

One of the activities I believe is greatly beneficial to students involves considering different situations and scenarios where the student will have to select the right vocabulary in order to have a successful conversation. The learning method will be selected according to the needs and abilities of different groups. It will also be important to take into account the different assessment methods that help us, as teachers, to monitor the progress of the students.

My experience as an international teacher has been with secondary school students who, as we know, are entering a phase of great changes in their lives, so the lessons will have to be entertaining and fun so that the student can can take a genuine interest in the language. I consider the motivation and good planning of classes according to the needs of the students to be vital in allowing the students to start entering Spanish conversation, as well as the emphasis on communication methods as the main part of the learning process.

My final memory from my 25 hours of lessons is of the fact that various different learning methods are used, with the most emphasis on communication methods, so that the student can experience situations where they have to select the best words to be able to communicate in Spanish. Despite this, they also use teaching material so that students can relate and construct their learning based on previous knowledge, all of this with the objective of making the student remember and practise what they have learned.