Tip: Volunteer to Teach English to Spanish Speakers
We are always told that one of the best ways to learn Spanish is to speak Spanish with people who speak Spanish as their native language. Well...here's a tip for one way to do just.
Volunteer to teach English to people who speak Spanish. In the United States there are millions of Spanish speaking immigrants, primarily from Mexico, who would like to understand, speak, read and write English...or do these things better than they do now. This is necessary for them to improve their job prospects, to get along better in society, to attain U.S. Citizenship, etc.
You might think that you have to know Spanish pretty well in order to teach a Spanish speaker English...and it would definitely help...but it isn't necessary. Even if you know very little Spanish, you can teach Spanish speakers English by using picture dictionaries and other tools that have been developed for this purpose. There are even multilingual dictionaries which show pictures and have the Spanish and English words next to them. And these dictionaries aren't just for learning vocabulary, either. They show you how to build sentences and have conversations using the vocabulary that you teach.
There are many agencies which accept volunteers to do this. I am involved with one in Appleton, Wisconsin that has hundreds of students of all nationalities, although Mexicans and Hmong (from Laos) are the most numerous. The agency I am with is the Fox Valley Literacy Coalition. You can learn more by visiting their website at fvlc.net. Because there are so many immigrants who want to learn English, the agencies have no choice but to accept volunteers who don't know the native language of their tutees...but if you do attempt to learn their native language while teaching them English it will make you much more effective as a tutor.
While you teach some Mexicans how to speak English, you have the perfect opportunity to learn Spanish from them while you continue your lessons here on spanishdict.com. As you teach them English, you can learn the Spanish words, phrases and sentences and hear your students speak Spanish to you and each other. You can also practice your Spanish in real, live conversations.
You can also become friends with some of your students and go to lunch with them and speak Spanish and English. As you get to know them they will ask you to help them with legal issues, shopping, car problems, money issues, etc, etc. They may invite you to social occasions where you can meet and converse with additional Spanish speakers. In other words, you can get to know some Spanish speakers and practice your Spanish on the phone, in Emails, etc. Try it, you'll like it!
4 Answers
I have always wanted to do this but am not really sure who to get in touch with! :/ I like to teach and I need the exchange.
Ashlita:
I saw from your profile that you are in Myrtle Beach, SC. I did a search on Google with +"myrtle beach" +literacy +esl as the search term. I came up with one hit that should do the trick for you.
It is for the Horry County Literacy Council.
Their webpage clearly indicates that they are involved in providing ESL (English as a Second Language) tutoring. They also provide training for their tutors. It seems very similar to the situation that I am involved with in Wisconsin.
People frequently ask me to teach them English and I tell them there is a big difference between knowing how to speak English and knowing how to teach English and that I can't teach them how to speak English. I do give math lessons in Spanish though.
Sweet thank you so much! Actually I am about to move to Florence but I'm sure I can ask them or use your same search criteria. Thanks un montón =)
