Discovering the Joy of Language: Abigail’s Journey with Spanish and Tutoring
Abigail Goggin’s love for Spanish began at an early age, when she attended an immersive preschool program. Now a high school student in the Class Cohort Program at the Well-Trained Mind Academy (WTMA), Abigail studies Spanish and is an active participant in WTMA’s Spanish Culture Club. Abigail also actively engages with the language through tutoring where she helps a young girl named Bella, a fourth grader from Honduras, with her English language arts and math.
Building Spanish Language Skills In a One-on-One Setting
Though their tutoring sessions focus mainly on math, Abigail sees the experience as an opportunity to share her love of Spanish and learn something new herself, too.
“It’s been really special to tutor someone who grew up in a Spanish-speaking household,” said Abigail. “Bella is better at Spanish than I am, which has been so cool because I learn from her too. Sometimes I’ll suggest we do an activity or play a game in Spanish to keep practicing together.”
This dynamic interaction has adds a personal dimension to their relationship, allowing Abigail to witness Bella’s academic growth firsthand.
Bella’s family primarily speaks Spanish, and while Bella is comfortable speaking in English, her mother prefers communicating in Spanish. This makes Abigail’s role as a tutor especially important in bridging the gap between home and school for Bella, and helping her to communicate with her parents.
Once a week during the school year, Abigail meets with Bella to help her understand math concepts and complete her homework. This is key to Bella’s academic growth.
“Her mom doesn’t speak English fluently enough to help her with her schoolwork, so Bella brings it to me, and we go over it together,” said Abigail. “It’s been great to see her get excited about learning.”
Tutoring Those “Aha” Moments Across Languages
One of Abigail’s favorite moments during tutoring came when she was teaching Bella about multiplication and Bella lit up with excitement.
“She was so thrilled when she grasped it, calling it ‘the secrets to multiplication.’ She just gets really excited about it. And I think that the extra instruction helps her to have more confidence in the classroom, which is really gratifying for me,” shared Abigail.
The Future of Spanish Teaching and Tutoring
Abigail’s passion for language extends beyond her tutoring work. She’s actively developing a Spanish curriculum for younger children, inspired by her early experiences in an immersion program.
She explains, “I want to give other kids the opportunity to learn Spanish, just like I did. I’m working on a curriculum right now, and I plan to test it out with my younger brother this year.”
Abigail’s long-term goal is to pursue a career in teaching Spanish, building on her current passion.
“I’ve been thinking about teaching Spanish as a career because I want to share that love for the language with others. I’d love to keep working on the curriculum, improve it, and hopefully use it to help elementary and even preschool students learn Spanish in a fun, engaging way.”
Abby’s curriculum makes ample use of games and fun activities to share the principles of language acquisition, so that students stay engaged and are able to catch on to the basics of the language while still having fun.
Fun with Spanish Words
For Abigail, Spanish isn’t just all work and no play. When asked about her favorite Spanish words, Abigail explained how she finds many words in Spanish fun to work with.
“One of my favorite words to say in Spanish is lavavajillas. It means dishwasher. It’s fun to say quickly because of the repeated ‘va’ and some unique sounds that we don’t have in English. The word desarrollo means development in Spanish. It can be tricky to say quickly because there is a rolled r in the middle that can sometimes be easy to skip over. The double L towards the end means that it makes more of a Y sound. It gets harder though! Sometimes you’ll see desarrollo as a verb, desarrollar—to develop. When you conjugate desarrollar you can get some pretty complicated words such as dessarrollaríamos!”
Putting Spanish Language Skills to Use in a Broader Context
Beyond her tutoring work, Abigail had another memorable experience where her Spanish skills were put to the test.
“I recently had the opportunity to translate at an adult education center’s resource fair for immigrants and refugees,” Abigail explains. “I helped Spanish-speaking immigrants communicate with organizations offering assistance with finding jobs, gaining citizenship, and more. Studying for the National Spanish Exam with the Spanish Culture Club really prepared me for this, especially when it came to vocabulary I might not have known otherwise, like the word for ‘lawyer,’ which I ended up using multiple times.”
These Well-Trained Mind Academy Spanish Culture Club members participated for the first time in the National Spanish Exam, hosted by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. This competition was not only a great way to test students’ proficiency holistically, but it also allowed students to see how they are progressing in their understanding of the Spanish language alongside their peers across the country.
This experience not only broadened Abigail’s vocabulary but connected directly to her WTMA studies.
“Our class novel this year is about a boy who comes to the U.S. from Mexico, and by studying that book, I learned terms like ‘immigration’ that came in handy at the resource fair. The same week we learned in class how to talk about what is easy and hard when learning a language, and I got to have a conversation exactly like that in Spanish with a woman who was learning English. It was a really neat experience, and I learned a lot from helping those people.”
Looking Ahead
Abigail’s dedication to her studies and tutoring reflects her deep connection to the language and her desire to help others. This passion also influences her future aspirations, as she explores potential career paths that involve language education.
Her commitment to language education extends beyond her own academic pursuits, as she seeks to empower and motivate the next generation of language learners. Her work as a tutor and club leader demonstrates the lasting influence she hopes to have, inspiring others to embrace the richness and beauty of the Spanish language and culture.