In-Person Spanish Classes in Towson, MD.
Our Purpose
Spanish learned for real life.
I founded Arriba Spanish in 2002 in Baltimore, with the purpose of preparing Spanish language learners for real-life interactions with Spanish native speakers. This meant more focus on speaking, listening and interacting in Spanish during class time, with more meaningful and useful content than what is usually offered in language schools.
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With this guiding principle, I designed Spanish programs focused on the language used in real life scenarios in which you actively participate. Class time is spent on oral practice of the structures you learn with activities similar to those encountered when interacting with native Spanish speakers.
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During our Spanish classes you will participate in a range of meaningful speaking activities scaffolded to your current level, which become progressively more complex as you acquire more language skills Time is used efficiently learning Spanish in activities that are practical, relevant, meaningful, and useful.
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As your Spanish teacher, I will guide you through the complexity of learning a language in a way that is approachable to you, so that together we put together a strong foundation in Spanish and quickly build up your language skills.
Raquel's Career Path
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I started teaching Spanish as I completed my graduate degree in Computer Science at Loyola University, here in Maryland. I then discovered that my true passion was teaching my native language; it was much more exciting than computer languages!
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So, I decided to graduate in Applied Linguistics to Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language from the University of Jaen, in Spain. and the rest is history!
Since then, I have been teaching Spanish to those wanting to learn it for a multitude of reasons, from family reasons, to travelling, to simply because they like it. I'm passionate about teaching my native language, and always encouraged by my students' success stories.
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Apart from teaching Spanish at Arriba, I have also taught Spanish at Bridgewater College in Virginia to some wonderful first-year students, and to employees at companies who needed Spanish to communicate with Spanish speakers at work.
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In addition, I majored in Business Administration from Comillas Catholic University in Madrid (Spain), and in Computer Science at the University of Baltimore.
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Reach out with your specific goals, and I will design a Spanish program that works best for you, or guide you to one of my group Spanish courses. You can view my group Spanish courses here, and my private Spanish lesson packages here.
I look forward to having you as a student and help you become more fluent in Spanish.
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Raquel
Comfortable classroom. Our small groups of students have plenty of room.
My students and I interact constantly in Spanish in a friendly environment to maximize the learning experience.
Interactive board with projector, to expand our Spanish activities with interesting videos.
Comfortable classroom. Our small groups of students have plenty of room.