Cuban Spanish Language Teacher - Cervantes certificate - Specialized in inherited Spanish for Cuban students

Find out more about Ada

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  I am a native Spanish speaker, and most of it I have studied my Master Degree in Spanish teaching. A native speaker is more than fluent, since we are ready to correct and easily use our first language in a proper sense. At the same time a native speaker understands and can use colloquialisms, idioms and slang. So, we are able to teach not only a language, but also his culture.
  To teach how people "naturally" speak is the big obvious advantage of having native speakers as teachers. We can teach how to speak fluently, but, more than that, we are usually able to model the use of language in a particularly natural way.

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  If we talk about literature, Miguel de Cervantes was an early modern Spanish writer world widely known as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's most famous novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a book often mentioned as both, the first modern novel and the first great novel of world literature.
  Talking about music, I would like to mention Celia Cruz, Cuban American singer who reigned for decades as the "Queen of Salsa Music," electrifying audiences with her wide-ranging touching voice and rhythmically captivating style.

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behaviour in the language that you particularly like?

  Spanish culture has contributed powerfully to the evolution of the Spanish language. Particularly, Spanish traditions are unique and have influenced the culture of, not only Latin American countries, but also of a bunch of countries of other cultures. Examples are multiple.
  "Ojalá" in Spanish is a very common word that all native speakers use all the time to express wishes and desires.
  The double kiss on the cheek is the signature of Spain, Latin America took this part of Spanish culture and made its own. In most Latin American Spanish-speaking countries, people greet each other with only one kiss on the cheek.
  Furthermore, most people will introduce themselves by only using their first names. Nevertheless, each person has typically two first names and one last name they use. Older adults are introduced with the prefixes Don and Doña (Mr. & Mrs.), to show them more respect and formality.

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  Learning Spanish, is an amazing idea for a handful of reasons: you can increase your possibilities of being able to work from anywhere in the world, more easily meet and date folks in countries where most people don't speak your own language.
  
  
  By learning this language, you'll be better able to communicate with Spanish speakers. Latin American countries economies are extremely important, it is a very dynamic culture, with a prodigious agricultural capacity and vast energy reserves. Many of the Central and South American nations where the language is spoken are beginning to thrive economically. So, speaking Spanish will allow you to access to this market and to get easier into this business area. In another hand, being able to speak Spanish greatly enhances your resume. If you are bilingual, you are more competitive in the workplace.
  Speaking Spanish will also open the door to a rich, gorgeous and historically important culture. By knowing this language you'll be able to access to a first-hand number of songs, movies, cultural events and a new world of opportunities.
  Finally, this is a language gaining popularity among non-native speakers due to its usefulness and charming sounds, with an extremely rich language. It is composed by different accents and dialects and a unique vocabulary, that represents the Spanish and Latin American cultures. It is an exclusive and very special language.

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  When a student starts learning our language for the first time, many doubts arise. A person speaking different languages gains experience and learning strategies that make it easier to approach a new language. The biggest difficulties in learning Spanish are the gender, number, and grammar agreement, the verbal forms, the division of "to be" into two verbs: "ser y estar", the subjunctive mood, pronominal verbs and the use of "se".
  Nevertheless, having a proper tutor will help you to overcome the difficulties of the Spanish that you can really only learn by living the language. A native teacher can help you to understand the idioms, the nuances, and the subtleties of everyday speech that are part of the culture. If you feel frustrated about the method of study you are using now, think about taking a native tutor and how this could be a better way to achieve your goals.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  After been working for many years in many different business sectors, when the pandemic locked down most of the world, I decided to help people that were depressed in their places to communicate and to find a light of hope in their lives. That is the mainly reason I approached the Spanish teaching and it was an enormous discovery, since I have met a lot of different people and I have learned myself during all this process. It was a way to feedback both, my students and me. And it helped me, effectively, to survive during this hard period and afterwards.
  By considering this perspective of exchange, I have realized that storytelling is one of the best technics to learn a language, since it brings linguistic learning alive and creates a participatory and immersive experience that allows students to enjoy hearing the language in a dynamic, sometimes stylistic and enjoyable way. Participation using key vocabulary and phrases can create a consciousness of rhythm and language structure.
  This approach makes my classes different, adapted to each student reality, not so technical but much more personal. It allows learners to feel that they are not acquiring grammar but talking about their own experiences, and it makes a huge personal and motivating difference.

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  Travel provides a learning proficiency like no other activity. It inspires people to seek out new cultures, keeping their knowledge fully topped up. It is an excellent way to, not only get new things and immerse yourself in a new culture, but it also provides a constant need to keep learning, and travelling. It is like the snake that bites its own tale.
  Traveling also helps people to learn how to read body language and nonverbal cues. Knowing the local language may help you to get around more easily, and will make your travel more enjoyable. It allows you to develop your intellectual capacity, interact with new cultures, and get new education right from its craddle. Seeing and interacting with these experiences first hand will always be an enormous complement to studying about them in a classroom.

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  I have been teaching French and Spanish languages during years. I have also developed activities in tourist sector in the Caribbean area and in the financing. Because of my business activities, I am able to teach Financial Spanish or Banking Spanish, for students looking for particular specialization. I teach beginners and students of other levels as well, and I have worked with several learners who have Spanish as their inherited language, descendants of Cubans. I love lecture, good cinema, exchange about different cultures and traveling. I hope I'll be able to help people wanting to learn languages and share my knowledges with other ones that need it.
  I work with Spanish as an inherited language and mainly with children of "latinos" who want to recover their parents' culture. I am specialized in recovery of "Cuban" language and cultural references of Latin America and Caribbean. I have developed a Socio-Cultural course specialized in Cuban culture, history and roots. This is addressed to students with a certain language level that want to share experiences about Cuban culture and present time living. We work with films, literature, painting, and analysis of art manifestations related to Cuba.