¿Hablas español?

Yo hablo un poquito español.

I had been teaching for 4 years before I taught a student whose first language was Spanish. But once those precious 3rd graders came into my classroom I fell in love with them and their language. Having taken French from middle school to college, they started teaching me the basics....uno, dos, tres.

It was because of these sweet kiddos that I tried to learn a new language. It was because of them that I grew my bilingual classroom library so they could take books home to read with their families. They sparked a love in me.  It is no wonder I ended up working closely with the summer program and after school club for our ESL students. Or traveled to Guatemala 5 different summers to work beside Guatemalan teachers, build houses, and love on the people. Or fell in love with my Spanish speaking novio. ❤️

June 2016, Guatemala, GiveandTeach.org

In December 2020 I celebrated finishing my classes for my ESL endorsement and passing my Praxis. I took a break from learning Spanish to strengthen my knowledge of the language I grew up speaking but did not know as much about as I thought. I struggled through English grammar and linguistics like woah! Now its time to renew my Duolingo subscription (follow me on Duolingo @McNinchie) and break out my Spanish for Educators book as I begin to speak a little more español. 

Anyone else out there trying to learn Spanish?

Deséame suerte!