Spanish Classes for Kids: An Interview with a Long-time Student

Our team at Homeschool Spanish Academy decided to interview one of our long-time Spanish students to give our readers like you an up close and personal look at what it’s like to take Spanish classes for kids!

Our student, who will go by KJ in her interview, is currently in high school and has been earning Spanish high school credit with our high school Spanish program. Let’s dive in and get a first-person perspective of what it’s like to take classes with HSA!

About You

1. What is your name?
   My name is KJ.
2. How old are you and what grade are you in?
   I’m 16 and currently in high school.
3. Where do you live?
   I live in Texas.
4. What are your current goals as a student?
   I want to graduate with a high GPA and earn scholarships to pay for my entire college tuition.
5. How does knowing a foreign language help you achieve your goals?
   It helps to get me ready for college.
6. Which career do you hope to pursue in the future?
   I want to be a Sports Dietitian.
7. What motivates you to learn (Spanish or any subject)?
   Taking Spanish classes now means that it is possible that I won’t have to take them in college.
8. What is one (academic-related) achievement you are proud of?
   I am proud of holding a 3.9 GPA.

About Your First Class with HSA

1. Did you know any Spanish before your first class with HSA?
   Yes, I had taken Spanish I and II at a local public high school. Prior to that, I used Rosetta Stone.
2. When did you first start learning Spanish with HSA and how long have you been a student with us?
   My first official class was on June 24, 2019. I have been taking them for about one year.
3. How did you feel on the first day moments before you met your teacher for the first time?
   I was a little nervous and apprehensive.
4. What did you love about your first class with HSA?
   The teacher really tried to make sure I understood the content.
5. Is there anything that you wished the first class had included?
   I wish I had actually taken my first class with my current teacher instead of this other teacher I took it with.
6. In what ways have you evolved as a Spanish student since your first class with HSA?
   I have gotten more confident with doing things in Spanish that I’m not particularly good at.

About Your Overall Experience with HSA Classes

1. What are your Spanish teachers’ names?
   My current teacher’s name is María José Peréz.
2. How do you feel when you are interacting with your teacher(s)?
   I feel comfortable and happy.
3. Do your teachers encourage you to perform better? How?
   Yes, because I want to please my teacher. She is very helpful when I am struggling and she gives me learning resources.
4. Which is your favorite classroom activity? Why do you like it so much?
   I enjoy when we read the stories and afterwards take a quiz on what we read about to work on new vocabulary. It gives me a chance to see what I’m learning in story form and to see how many new words I can remember.
5. Given a chance, what is one change you would like to see in how the classes are conducted?
   I cannot currently think of anything I would change.
6. How much time do you spend in class speaking in Spanish?
   I would say about 90-95% of the class we are talking in Spanish.
7. How much time do you spend every week on homework?
   I would say about an average of 3 hours a week.
8. What is the homework like? Do you enjoy it and is it helpful?
   It usually consists of filling in the blanks, making sentences, and reading and summarizing stories or events. It’s pretty easy and sometimes even entertaining.

About Your Experience Learning Spanish

1. Do you have Spanish support at home or school where you can practice and apply what you’ve learned?
   My parents and my brother know a little Spanish, so I am occasionally able to speak with them occasionally.
2. How do you set language learning targets and which strategies do you use to achieve them?
   I want to pass each class with an A+ so I set goals to achieve high grades on the tests and quizzes. I also make flashcards and utilize the additional reading materials provided by my teacher.
3. What has been your greatest success since you’ve started learning with us?
   One of my greatest successes has been the ability to actually understand when I hear Spanish being spoken around me outside of class.
4. What has been your most frustrating challenge since you’ve started learning with us?
   My most frustrating challenge has been learning and differentiating between the many tenses.
5. Did you try learning Spanish prior to taking classes with HSA? If so, what was your experience like?
   Yes, I used Rosetta Stone at home and took Spanish I and II at a public high school. While I did learn a lot while attending the high school, the teaching was not nearly as in depth nor as advanced as that of HSA. In fact, when I started with HSA, my teacher had to review quite a bit with me in order for me to get caught up because HSA was so much more advanced than my high school Spanish curriculum.
6. What is a recent real-life example of a time when you were able to use your Spanish skills?
   I accidentally put the Spanish version of one of my books on hold at the library. I was excited to discover that I could actually understand what I was reading!

About Your Advice to Others

1. On a scale from 1-10 (ten being “amazing”), would you recommend HSA to a friend or family member? Why?
   I would give it a 9 out of 10 because you are able to learn Spanish from a native speaker. Additionally, you actually learn the language and in the process, learn some about your teacher’s culture.
2. What would you like to share with our readers who are considering signing up for Spanish classes, but aren’t sure yet if they should?
   I would recommend that you sign up because it is a great way to learn the language. While it can be hard, the method of teaching forces you to speak the language and actually understand what you are saying as opposed to just knowing the answers.
3. What would you say to a new Spanish student at HSA to help them prepare for their journey learning Spanish with us?
   Be prepared to work hard and learn a lot! It will be uncomfortable and challenging at times, but you will be learning in a great environment from people who really want to help you succeed.

Additional Feedback

Is there any additional feedback you would like to share with our readers?
Get used to speaking in Spanish during your classes and make sure you do your homework. Also, try to really understand the lectures because you will need the material later on, even after that specific quiz or exam

Would you like to sign up for a free trial class?

Learn more about us at HSA! We look forward to serving you.

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Lindsay Brown

Managing Editor at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Lover of words and a foreign language fanatic, I'm fluent in French and Spanish, with BA degrees in Linguistics, French, and Psychology, plus a TEFL certificate and 10+ years of teaching experience to boot. I blissfully share Spanish-learning tips, best-idea-ever travel advice, and at-a-glance cultural guides. When you can't find me writing spiritedly from my home office in Antigua, Guatemala, I'm probably outside playing games and exploring nature with my two bilingual kids.

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