I don’t remember my first Spanish word or sentence, but my love for Spanish comes from childhood. I grew up in Brazil, but since my grandparents were from Spain, I always had the opportunity to be in contact with the Spanish language and for that I have good memories.  When I was in High School English was very popular, maybe the only foreign language taught, so I took it for a couple of years.  By the time I went to College, I had the chance to choose any language to study. Just to satisfy my curiosity, I took some Italian, Latin and one semester of German and Hebrew, but Spanish was the one that –again- caught my attention.  I came to the United States in 87 as a graduate student in the Spanish Department (Vanderbilt University) where I got my Master's Degree. I’ve been teaching Spanish since then.
It’s true that when you know two languages, the third comes very easily. I’m fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English, and have a good knowledge of French and Italian. 
If you have a passion for any language, this is the site to be. Spanish can be your first adventure.

Marilia Amat-Baralt
Spanish Instructor

My first foreign language in school was Latin - a great language to prepare you for any university.  But then we moved, and the only language offered was Spanish.  I found Spanish more fun, because people in West Texas actually spoke it, where as Latin was mostly just reading and learning complex grammar.

My high school Spanish seemed to "stick", even though I'm always talking to people who have totally forgotten whatever language they learned in school.  Perhaps they didn't have a true love for language, or perhaps they just never made opportunities to continue their studies.

I worked at a Dairy Queen and a janitorial company in high school.  In both jobs, I had plenty of opportunities to work with Latinos.  I even picked quite a colorful vocabulary.

Every summer, our Spanish teacher took a group to Mexico city.  Travel is, of course, a great way to further one's language skills.  I took lot's of pictures, created a scrapbook accompanied with an audio tape, and got three hours credit for the trip from a nearby community college.
 
I also discovered CLEP (College Level Examination Program) tests, and took the Spanish exams.  My university awared me 14 hours of credit just for my Spanish!  I went to college already having 17 credits (plus even more for math and science exams).

During my undergraduate program, I took Spanish classes, as electives, just for fun. During one summer, they had a Spanish Conversation class, then later, I took two courses in Spanish literature.  During the literature classes, the entire lecture, notes, and exams were in Spanish.

After college, I was curious about other languages, so I delved into French, Portuguese, and Hebrew.  Later I even tried a sampling of Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and Greek, but I can't really claim to speak those languages.  Before the internet existed, it was hard to find courses, and of course they were all on audio tapes back then in the 1980s.

In 1995, I was a consultant and got a job offer in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Being single and living by yourself is not the optimal way to learn more Spanish.  But on the job, I was able to put a lot of Spanish to use, even though it wasn't a requirement.

So after trying dozens and dozens of language books, courses, tapes, CD, and software programs, I became sort of an expert at what works and what doesn't.  I created a software program to teach the Hebrew alphabet, and now I'm focusing again on Spanish.  We have just created an online Spanish learning center, have brought in some great talent to build lessons and answer questions in the forums.

We are just getting this site started in January 2009.  Once we get the right resource hired, you will see a lot of new content on the site, and the forums will be monitored at least 3 times per week.  

So please bookmark the site, sign-up for our newsletter, and visit again regularly!

Neal Walters
Language Enthusiast