About Real Spanish

I am from Canada, and I have been teaching languages for many years. If you want to know more about my professional career, click here. I had the idea to create Real Spanish because of my own experience learning Spanish. I had been studying in Spanish classes for many hours, but when I arrived in Spain, I often felt very frustrated because I didn't understand what people were saying, and I found it very difficult to express myself. I started watching movies and TV shows online, making good use of the back button, and subtitles in English or Spanish - although I was puzzled that the subtitles often did not match what I was hearing! At Real Spanish we have solved that problem.

I enjoyed learning because the material was so fun and informative. I improved my vocabulary, and learned a lot of new words and phrases. At the same time, I learned a lot about the history and culture of Spain, as well as other Spanish-speaking countries.

I realised that this method could also help many other people, so, with the help of Gema, I started to develop scripts for the virtual lessons, based on film and TV clips. Over time, we fine-tuned the concept, and began working with professionals from various countries to create the video lessons. It has been a great experience - a whole new way of working for me. I hope you enjoy Real Spanish as much as I have enjoyed creating the lessons.

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I am Spanish. I live in England but I also spend a lot of time in Spain. I have been teaching Spanish for many years; I have worked as a Spanish reader in countries such as China and India; also in a secondary school in England but for the last six years I have been focusing on teaching online, by video conference. That's how I met Elizabeth, who proposed this idea of Real Spanish to me.

I am also the head of studies for the online teaching department at Spanish Express, which offers different Spanish programmes and courses. You can see them here.

In Real Spanish I correct the written part in Spanish, I also help to create the teaching materials and grammar sheets. I make and/or correct the transcriptions of the videos so that the subtitles match. I help Elizabeth decide which expressions and vocabulary can be helpful to students, as some expressions are more commonly used in Spanish than others, and we want to teach a modern Spanish that is spoken in the street, not in the material manipulated in the books.

Most of my students feel that they have spent many hours studying Spanish and yet are unable to understand the native speakers well. Many ask me what they can do to improve their oral expression and comprehension, because they are tired of the typical and repetitive teaching materials. I believe that Real Spanish will help many students to learn in a more fun way with current and very varied topics. I am sure you will like it.

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I am passionate about Spanish pronunciation. If you are reading these lines you have probably dreamt of participating in a conversation in Spanish with confidence. The same has happened to me with the different languages I have learned. Thanks to these frustrations and that of language teaching, I have learned that knowing how to pronounce is one of the keys to success.

I began my professional career teaching Spanish to foreigners in countries such as Spain, Austria, Turkey, Hungary and China, and it was during those years that I became aware of the need for both teachers and students to learn pronunciation in order to improve oral communication. Therefore, I have been specializing in phonetics, and since I returned to Spain (my home country) I help people like you to understand and speak Spanish more effectively, through online pronunciation classes, and specialized materials.

If you want to know more about my work you can take a look here.

I was very lucky to meet Elizabeth in my pronunciation classes, where I enjoyed helping her learn small-big elements of phonetics that made it difficult for her to understand conversational Spanish, and gave her a foreign accent. Now I'm delighted to be able to collaborate with Real Spanish, and help people like you learn the same secrets of effective oral communication.

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I am from Madrid, although I have always considered myself a citizen of the world. I love languages, music and cinema. After many years working as a translator and subtitler of films, series and documentaries, I started to educate my voice, and to combine my translation work with voiceovers of all kinds, although focusing on audio descriptions (for the blind) and online courses. If you want to know more about my work, click here.

When I met Elizabeth I loved her project, and I am delighted to be part of the Real Spanish team, and to continue learning and analysing my mother tongue, while contributing with my voice to spread it among the users of the platform. I am Carmen's voice.

The Real Spanish method is entertaining, and a real Spanish is taught, one that is spoken in the street and in everyday life. At Real Spanish, I am the voice of Carmen.

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I'm from Spain, and I have a degree in Text Interpretation from the RESAD (Royal School of Dramatic Art in Madrid). I have participated in several theatre festivals in different parts of Spain. After graduating, in 2012, I formed, together with my colleagues in Dramaturgy and Direction at the RESAD, the Company of Mr. Smith, a collective of artists from different disciplines, such as dance, dramaturgy or plastic and performing arts, whose aim is to tell new stories using a current language, and a contemporary perspective through creative projects.

At the same time, I continue my training with acting in front of the camera, at the University of Navarra UNIR, and with monographs with different stage directors.

At present, I combine my theatrical activity with my work as an announcer, giving voice to different fiction and audio book projects. In Real Spanish, I am the voice of Juan.

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I am Venezuelan, and I live in Texas, United States, where I develop my work as a graphic designer. Since I was a child I always felt a great attraction for the audiovisual world, so I decided to start educating myself, take classes, and different courses that would help me to be a professional in this field. A complicated world, but in which every day is a new challenge, and that amuses me and motivates me to continue learning day by day.

I feel very fortunate to work in what I am passionate about, animations, video and sound editing, image design, etc. I have been working for many years for companies and individuals from various parts of the world.

Currently, I am part of the creative team of Real Spanish; I have had the honor of collaborating in this project since its inception, in the area of audio and video editing of the different lessons.

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I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I studied Image and Sound Design at the University of Buenos Aires. I worked in the film industry since I was very young. To tell the truth, my first job was to show films in some cinemas in the Abasto neighbourhood, and there I met a well-known film director at the premiere of one of his films. Thanks to him, I got in touch with many people in the industry and quickly began to work in advertising and film production companies.

There I learned the direction and camera assistance business; after several years, I decided to dedicate myself specifically to the edition and postproduction of film and video and that is what I have been doing for about 10 years now. At Real Spanish I make the animated videos of the lessons and put the subtitles on the TV and film clips.

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I am a born entrepreneur and linguist, a passionate about languages, culture, gastronomy and art. I have lived half my life in Spain, and the other half in the UK. I have been involved in education for over twenty years, since I opened my own centre, Spanish Express. My experience as a Spanish teacher, teacher trainer, translator and proofreader was key to setting up this Spanish school, and I am constantly struggling to keep up with globalisation, the presence of new technologies, and the new demands of the market.

I am totally immersed in different projects to develop teaching techniques, to create new learning models, including online teaching, and immersion programmes, both in Spain and Latin America. You can see more information here.

I met Elizabeth through Gema, with whom I have been working for almost two decades, and I liked the Real Spanish project so much that I decided to be part of it with my eyes closed, in order to offer students of Spanish from all over the world, with intermediate and high levels, the possibility of enjoying new online resources, with which they can achieve a more extensive vision of our language and culture. The Real Spanish lessons contain a wide variety of useful activities for everyday life, which you will be able to put into practice quickly, and communicate with more than 577 million people.

I collaborate with Real Spanish in the correction of texts, and in the management of administration, marketing and advertising in social networks.

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I have more than 30 years of international business experience. A few years ago I moved to Barcelona, where I taught business English. I then combined the two fields, establishing my own business, Pinfield English, where we focused on intensive business English courses. Lately we have been giving intensive courses in Spanish and French as well. You can see more information here.

At Real Spanish I use my experience in language teaching, and in the business world, to help with the planning and development of the project.

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