If your kids asked you for a language tutor who's a native Spanish speaker ... but not anyone they already know ....

[SKL]

Where would you start to look?

We have Spanish-speaking contacts IRL, but my kids are embarrassed to ask people who know them.

I've received suggestions for online tutors ... what do you think about online vs. in-person?

[vonfirmath]

I'd ask at their school -- maybe the Spanish class teacher knows someone

 

[Miss Tick]

One thing I like about online tutors is that they are tutoring with *intent*, so more likely to be able to answer the why? questions, point out grammatical exceptions, great off tricky topics with mnemonics, etc. Maybe they aren't full-blown linguists, but hopefully they've given the process of language teaching some thought.

This is all theoretical for me, though. We've lucked into great in-person tutors through personal recommendations, and bombed with our one online attempt.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Do you belong to Nextdoor?  People ask for recommendations like that all the time there. 

[Nart]

How much Spanish do your girls already know? Are they at very beginning level? Have they taken any Spanish in school?

[Corraleno]

If you're open to online tutoring, Homeschool Spanish Academy is based in Antigua, Guatemala, and uses local Guatemalan teachers.

If you prefer in-person tutoring, I would check with local colleges and universities; try both the Spanish Dept and whichever office lists job opportunities for students.

[SKL]

15 minutes ago, Nart said:

How much Spanish do your girls already know? Are they at very beginning level? Have they taken any Spanish in school?

They're finishing up Spanish 2 (high school), but honestly, they aren't as good as they should be for that level IMO.

[Pam in CT]

If they're game for virtual... I'd put a plug in for Ninos de Guatemala. They're set up as a non-profit and have a aimed-at-international-travelers school based in Antigua that teaches Spanish; which then raises the funding for several primary schools in Ciudad Vieja that provide both education for kids and also various employment and nutrition/ public health support to the kids' families. My son and I spent two weeks in one of their homestay placement/ immersion programs ~7 years ago. Our instructors were very professional; the whole operation seemed quite well run; we also visited one of the schools. They do exceedingly affordable virtual classes as well.

Another Antigua school that I visited, and met a number of folks who were doing either their language or hospital volunteer programs, that folks spoke highly of, is Maximo Nivel; they also do virtual classes.

 

If the kids really prefer an IRL tutor (and, I teach ESL both in-person and virtual, there's a long list of tradeoffs; both can work but the tradeoffs are real) I'd start with one of the local immigrant advocacy organizations and ask if they know of anyone willing to do it. VERY OFTEN there are spectacularly capable recent immigrants with credentials and experience teaching college level in their native country but who are for one reason or another are relegated to very-marginal poorly paid work.

[Dmmetler]

I'll support the HSA recommendation. L started doing session with them after completing college Spanish 2 with basically no fluency or verbal skills whatsoever, despite an A in the classes. It definitely provided the support needed to actually be able to use Spanish well. 

[Nart]

Learning Spanish in High School can be challenging if your goal is really to be fluent.  Spanish is a heritage language for us and I have tried different ways to get my kids to learn Spanish.  My oldest had hearing and speech issues so we ended up dropping speaking to him in Spanish and only spoke to him in English when he was in preschool and elementary school. He became interested in learning Spanish in middle school so when I homeschooled him in 7th grade I paid for a native Spanish speaker to spend 4 hours a day with my kids while I worked part-time). After 4-5 months I realize they actually weren't learning that much but were more motivated. They were doing Homeschool Spanish Academy as well. My younger son was not really motivated and preferred to speak English. So just because you get a native speaker doesn't mean that they will progress more.  I think it is just a slog so we keep trying programs, and I had them spend three weeks in Costa Rica in a language school so they keep advancing but are nowhere near fluent speakers. 

Perhaps it our experience is unique (although I doubt it is), there can be a level of... well, let's say disdain when your skin color is brown and you are speaking Spanish in the United States. So my kids have heard people shout "go back to Mexico", "why don't you speak English", etc. However, if your kids are blond in a place like a Mexican restaurant and speaking Spanish, people tend to think it is great. So you get different feedback on how acceptable it is to speak Spanish based on how you look and I think kids internalize that. I am glad that my oldest is now really motivated to learn Spanish since the rest of his life people will assume he speaks Spanish based on how he looks and his last name. 

I am really pleased that my oldest is now really motivated and what has helped him is:

• listening to music in Spanish. He finds youtube videos that have the lyrics in English and Spanish and watches his favorites over and over
• Watching TV series in Spanish (has been watching Narcos). I think Disney plus has some teen shows from Argentina. I sometimes have him watch a show that is called Rosa de Guadalupe which is a complete story- beginning, middle, end in one hour.  Some of the topics are a bit mature but I find ones that have to do with high schoolers and have him watch. It is on telemundo or univision on regular TV most nights. 
• Believe it or not a program that is actually designed for retirees called Warren Hardy. The emphasis is on communication.  After buying a ton of programs I am really amazed at how effective this program is. 

[Harriet Vane]

On 4/14/2023 at 7:09 PM, Pam in CT said:

If they're game for virtual... I'd put a plug in for Ninos de Guatemala. They're set up as a non-profit and have a aimed-at-international-travelers school based in Antigua that teaches Spanish; which then raises the funding for several primary schools in Ciudad Vieja that provide both education for kids and also various employment and nutrition/ public health support to the kids' families. My son and I spent two weeks in one of their homestay placement/ immersion programs ~7 years ago. Our instructors were very professional; the whole operation seemed quite well run; we also visited one of the schools. They do exceedingly affordable virtual classes as well.

Another Antigua school that I visited, and met a number of folks who were doing either their language or hospital volunteer programs, that folks spoke highly of, is Maximo Nivel; they also do virtual classes.

 

If the kids really prefer an IRL tutor (and, I teach ESL both in-person and virtual, there's a long list of tradeoffs; both can work but the tradeoffs are real) I'd start with one of the local immigrant advocacy organizations and ask if they know of anyone willing to do it. VERY OFTEN there are spectacularly capable recent immigrants with credentials and experience teaching college level in their native country but who are for one reason or another are relegated to very-marginal poorly paid work.

We did something similar. We spent almost two weeks in Antigua and had daily immersion lessons every morning. Then we continued online with the same school for years and years. Best investment ever—they were excellent tutors, the price was more than reasonable, scheduling was completely flexible, and my kids achieved genuine fluency because it was all conversation based. 

[maize]

3 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

We did something similar. We spent almost two weeks in Antigua and had daily immersion lessons every morning. Then we continued online with the same school for years and years. Best investment ever—they were excellent tutors, the price was more than reasonable, scheduling was completely flexible, and my kids achieved genuine fluency because it was all conversation based. 

What program did you use?

My 15 year old is studying Spanish. I haven't been back to Guatemala since living there as a child,  and some of my very favorite memories are from Antigua--it's such a beautiful and delightful place. I'd love to take her for a language immersion experience!

[Pam in CT]

2 hours ago, maize said:

What program did you use?

My 15 year old is studying Spanish. I haven't been back to Guatemala since living there as a child,  and some of my very favorite memories are from Antigua--it's such a beautiful and delightful place. I'd love to take her for a language immersion experience!

Not HV, but we did a homestay and 4 hours/day classes at the Spanish school affiliated with Ninos de Guatemala and had a very good experience.  The Spanish school is in an old colonial house right in the historic district of Antigua (the primary schools they run are in Ciudad Vieja).

[SKL]

On 4/14/2023 at 6:39 PM, Nart said:

Perhaps it our experience is unique (although I doubt it is), there can be a level of... well, let's say disdain when your skin color is brown and you are speaking Spanish in the United States. So my kids have heard people shout "go back to Mexico", "why don't you speak English", etc. However, if your kids are blond in a place like a Mexican restaurant and speaking Spanish, people tend to think it is great. So you get different feedback on how acceptable it is to speak Spanish based on how you look and I think kids internalize that. I am glad that my oldest is now really motivated to learn Spanish since the rest of his life people will assume he speaks Spanish based on how he looks and his last name. 

I am really pleased that my oldest is now really motivated and what has helped him is:

• listening to music in Spanish. He finds youtube videos that have the lyrics in English and Spanish and watches his favorites over and over
• Watching TV series in Spanish (has been watching Narcos). I think Disney plus has some teen shows from Argentina. I sometimes have him watch a show that is called Rosa de Guadalupe which is a complete story- beginning, middle, end in one hour.  Some of the topics are a bit mature but I find ones that have to do with high schoolers and have him watch. It is on telemundo or univision on regular TV most nights. 
• Believe it or not a program that is actually designed for retirees called Warren Hardy. The emphasis is on communication.  After buying a ton of programs I am really amazed at how effective this program is. 

My kids are also brown-skinned.  It used to bug them that people assumed they spoke Spanish, but now it embarrasses them that they don't.

I've tried it all, LOL, but until recently, my kids were either disinterested or downright hostile.  They have also complained that their Spanish teachers don't actually know how to speak Spanish.  I don't know how true that is, as I've never listened to their classes.  I myself speak more Spanish than my kids (and my accent isn't horrible), but clearly they don't want to learn it from me.  😛

Thanks for the suggestions.  My kids do love to listen to Spanish-language popular music, and I think they may have been watching Narcos, but I'll look at the other ideas.  Imagine Mom asking them to watch more TV ... but wait ... maybe I'd better tell them NOT to watch if I want them to do so ....

[SKL]

I love the idea of a local immersion program, but I don't think we could work it in before they finish high school.  Just too many other things going on.

[wintermom]

9 hours ago, SKL said:

I love the idea of a local immersion program, but I don't think we could work it in before they finish high school.  Just too many other things going on.

Immersion was the best way I learned foreign languages (French and Norwegian). I gained a foundation in grammer, vocabulary, reading, writing and speaking through in-person classes, then cemented the ability to converse in the language when I was immersed in it and HAD to speak it. Necessity is important, as is hearing and seeing the language all the time. 

If you dc really want to be comfortable conversing, then make the time for an immersion experience. Even a week can make a huge difference!

Edited April 17, 2023 by wintermom

[Harriet Vane]

6 hours ago, maize said:

What program did you use?

My 15 year old is studying Spanish. I haven't been back to Guatemala since living there as a child,  and some of my very favorite memories are from Antigua--it's such a beautiful and delightful place. I'd love to take her for a language immersion experience!

At the time, it was called 121Spanish, owned by a guy named Craig Jull. The school changed ownership as we were coming to the end of homeschooling journey, so I have no idea how this company is going now. It was purely coincidental timing that we were phasing out of their program just as they changed ownership. We absolutely adored our Guatemalan tutors, especially our first ones (Margarita y Fernanda).

Edited April 16, 2023 by Harriet Vane

[Nart]

4 hours ago, SKL said:

My kids are also brown-skinned.  It used to bug them that people assumed they spoke Spanish, but now it embarrasses them that they don't.

I've tried it all, LOL, but until recently, my kids were either disinterested or downright hostile.  They have also complained that their Spanish teachers don't actually know how to speak Spanish.  I don't know how true that is, as I've never listened to their classes.  I myself speak more Spanish than my kids (and my accent isn't horrible), but clearly they don't want to learn it from me.  😛

Thanks for the suggestions.  My kids do love to listen to Spanish-language popular music, and I think they may have been watching Narcos, but I'll look at the other ideas.  Imagine Mom asking them to watch more TV ... but wait ... maybe I'd better tell them NOT to watch if I want them to do so ....

Just found a Disney + show in Spanish called "The Low Tone Club" about a high school in Colombia that specializes in music staring Carlos Vives (Colombian singer who has sold millions of records, sings pop as well as traditional music -vallenato and title song of Disney movie Encanto). I really liked the first episode. My son said it was a little "cringy" but I think he liked it.  He said he would watch the second episode with me this afternoon when he gets back from surfing. 

[chiguirre]

On 4/16/2023 at 10:07 AM, SKL said:

My kids are also brown-skinned.  It used to bug them that people assumed they spoke Spanish, but now it embarrasses them that they don't.

I've tried it all, LOL, but until recently, my kids were either disinterested or downright hostile.  They have also complained that their Spanish teachers don't actually know how to speak Spanish.  I don't know how true that is, as I've never listened to their classes.  I myself speak more Spanish than my kids (and my accent isn't horrible), but clearly they don't want to learn it from me.  😛

Thanks for the suggestions.  My kids do love to listen to Spanish-language popular music, and I think they may have been watching Narcos, but I'll look at the other ideas.  Imagine Mom asking them to watch more TV ... but wait ... maybe I'd better tell them NOT to watch if I want them to do so ....

My dd feels like this too even though she does speak Spanish well but with an American accent and not with the current slang from any country including Venezuela. A kid who grows up here and goes to school in English will find it very difficult to be a native speaker of Spanish. It's happened to all of our friends' kids too even the ones who grew up with their parents speaking to them in Spanish. They start answering in English when they're in elementary school and it just becomes normal.

The only people I know who grew up in the US and speak native level Spanish are from areas of Miami where literally everyone is an immigrant or child of an immigrant from a Spanish speaking country. When dd was in Boot Camp there were a couple of women from Puerto Rico who needed some explanations in Spanish. Her instructor asked her to do it because although she is Hispanic too, she speaks Texas Spanish not Puerto Rican Spanish. Even Selena Quintanilla had to learn Spanish, she didn't know it growing up. Your girls are far from alone. 

You are not alone in the "Please watch TV camp." We have to schedule my nephew to watch TV in English with English subtitles as part of his daily requirements. His English is pretty good, he can follow the story when we read, but he just isn't interested in watching TV (not even in Spanish). Kids these days!!!