Hello Students, my name is Ada Ayala. I am a certified Spanish Instructor from Mexico with more than 9 years of experience. I have a bachelor's degree in Spanish literature and linguistics, from the University of Guanajuato in Mexico, I have been teaching since 2007, first as a high-school teacher in my country, then when I moved to the States in 2012 I started working in one of the most recognized language schools in the Chicago area. I have a Cortez Method certificate for Spanish Instructors and I am constantly seeking to improve my teaching techniques,

EDUCATION

2003 - 2007 B.A. Spanish Literature

Guanajuato University - Guanajuato, Mexico

B.A Letras Españolas

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2016 - 2018 Customer Support and Class Coordinator

Spanish Language Center Chicago

2012 - 2018 Spanish Instructor

Spanish Language Center - Chicago,

Private Instructor, Group classes Instructor and online Instructor

2017 - 2018 English - Spanish Translator-Subtitler

Sfera Studio - Online

2017 - 2018 English - Spanish Translator-Subtitler

AMARA On Demand - United States

Abraham Lincoln Institute (México)

2007 - 2012 High School Teacher

COURSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

2012 - 2014 Spanish Instructor Certification

Spanish Language Center - Cortez Method - Chicago, USA

"Spanish as a second language instructor".

2009 - 2010 Teacher Competence Certification

Guanajuato University - Guanajuato, Mexico

"Teaching techniques, pedagogy and teaching practice."

For the basics, I use a special book series by levels, which in my experience is one of the most effective Spanish courses for beginners. I use these books to explain the general concepts of Spanish Grammar only, in order to equip my students with solid foundations. (I would like to emphasize that I have lots of drills prepared, good examples and other teaching resources for my students. I also like to use the desktop sharing feature included in WyzAnt, to explain things using my desktop as a traditional whiteboard in a traditional classroom. This way you’ll be able to see what I have prepared for you, following all the explanations step by step).

Once my students feel fully confident with the structures we can start with the immersion consisting of a three-step program.

1)The first part is immersion through reading, I prefer to start with this part even before we finish the grammar. This is the best way to build up vocabulary more quickly, so we can start recognizing familiar grammar concepts, all the tenses, and the structures within real-life contexts. I have a good personal selection of interesting stories and articles. Or sometimes my students bring their own. From the start, we hold short conversations about ourselves, the things we like to do, our friends, our jobs, personal interests, and so forth.

2)In the second step, I introduce short media content, such as ted talks in Spanish, News reports, video tutorials, podcasts and other media resources. I have also my own personal selection, with subtitles and transcriptions that we analyze in depth. After this step, my students are now able to make opinions, analyze and criticize with more linguistic elements.

3)In the third step and final step, I expose my students to more complex media, like series, TV shows, movies, newspapers and magazines, podcasts literature and of course now we can hold long conversations. After this, my students are able to effectively survive in any daily situation and talk about almost anything they want because at this point they understand a vast amount of Spanish accents, slang, and idiomatic phrases.