Hola y bienvenidos.

Probably one of the things I hear the most from people I teach or people who have been in my research studies is that they learned a bunch in class, but then in the real world it felt like a completely different language. They learned questions that followed a certain format, then someone asked them something that felt way above their level.

That is what this module is about, and honestly what this whole course is about. It is about taking your base knowledge of asking and answering questions and understanding basic sentence structure in Spanish, and then building the strategies to infer and respond simply in the face of the total opposite of that.

Think about it in English. A student might learn something like “What do you do for fun” and have a stock answer like “I like to spend time with my friends and eat at restaurants.” Then in real life someone says, “Hey bro, so what do you get up to on the weekends.” Panic. It does not follow the structure they studied. Or does it? Could they still answer with their original answer? Yes.

The goal here is to build strategies to move through natural language and to let yourself be exactly where you are. You are not at a native level. You cannot speak like that yet. And you cannot skip the steps to get there. You have to build the building blocks while also existing and functioning within real-life language.

This is not a bad thing. Your brain has frameworks for this. Think about how you acquired your first language. I have a one-year-old, and I overload him with language he does not understand yet. I say so many things that are way beyond his comprehension, and he usually responds confidently with the few words he does know: ball, snack, uh oh...

That is how language learning works. Your brain can do this. YOU are good at this.

Saludos cordiales,

Hannah Pitner, PhD

Message me directly here

A breakdown of the parts of this course

This course is self-paced. Whenever you begin, that’s when you start. The suggested rhythm is one module per week, but if you need more time, that’s completely fine.

Whether you’re paying in weekly installments or all at once, once you enroll you’ll have 6 weeks of access to the live components: your conversation partner, our live meetings, and the group chats. You have lifetime access to the modules and materials.

After the 6 weeks, you do have the option to continue with the live features. We’ll share more details about that in the final module, so no need to worry about it now.

Take your time moving through the modules. The group chat will include people at different stages, but feel free to jump in whenever you’re ready.

Each module includes:

Short video lesson A concise lesson introducing the week’s focus and key language concepts. It’s always at the top. You can watch it as a video or just listen.
Worksheet (print it!) Practice activities, sentence structures, and notes to support what you’re learning. We recommend printing this so you can write and think freely.
TV show practice As part of the course, you’ll choose a tv show to watch. The goal is about finding a character you identify with and beginning to really study and integrate the way they speak. Each worksheet includes guiding activities and space for notes. We recommend watching in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. Let your brain do its thing. If you are getting the very broad gist, you are succeeding/ learning.
Group chat See below (and in the sidebar after you register). This space is only for enrolled students. We’ll post prompts, questions, and fun content to watch and interact with together. Feel free to post in English or Spanish (or a mix)!
Individual conversation partner We’ll match you with a partner via WhatsApp. You’ll meet once per week (WhatsApp video), based on your shared availability. We’ll send you a detailed language activity for each meeting. You’ll go back and forth between English and Spanish. Your partner is learning English just as you’re learning Spanish. This is one of our favorite parts of the course, because you get to teach each other and learn side by side. You can always reach out on WhatsApp if you have questions or need to be rematched for any reason.
Occasional live conversation parties These will appear under the Events tab, and we’ll also notify you inside your module when one is coming up. I’ll be hosting and it’s just time to do a real life practice scenario in a guided setting.

To-Do List

PRINT and complete the worksheet (if you want to go ahead and print just once for the whole course, just print the “complete course” document)
Watch the lesson video
Fill out this form to get matched with a conversation partner
Look through the list and pick your show and character!
Participate in the group chat

click here for the accompanying pdf

CONVERSATION PARTNER

This is what sets this course apart. These modules won't teach you Spanish. They create a necessary basis. Meeting with another human and supporting each other in your language journeys is what brings it all together.

We match you with a Spanish speaker learning English and you meet once per week via Whatsapp video. To practice for 25 minutes in Spanish and 25 minutes in English. We send you a guided activity.