What to Expect from a Year with the Spanish Academy

Education is the foundation for a bright future, which is what every parent wants to provide for their child. The Spanish Academy isn’t just for homeschooling families; this program is for anyone looking for an affordable, high-quality Spanish program.

Many homeschool programs may just offer a Spanish book for the parent to teach from or provide funds for a program like Rosetta Stone. But where is the native-speaking teacher to help you with the pronunciation and conversation? Now, schools may have a native speaker teaching Spanish classes – they may even have a language immersion program! However, your child will probably not get the one-on-one attention needed to thrive in a classroom setting. For that reason, many parents opt for private Spanish tutors – if they can afford them, that is. A lot of people even travel abroad to get that authentic learning experience in a personalized setting with a native speaker.

All of the affordable options seem to be lacking, but the authentic teaching experience may be out of your budget. What the Spanish Academy offers is the best of both worlds – authentic teaching with native teachers at a price you can afford! Let’s see what a year with the Spanish Academy looks like.

How Often Are the Classes?

Throughout the school year, most of our students take classes twice a week. This is the perfect balance between overwhelming a student with loads of information every day and not spending enough time studying for the information to stick. Let’s say the student studies on Mondays and Wednesdays. What about the other days of the week? Will the gap in learning affect their progress? The answer is no. After every class, the teacher provides homework which takes about the same amount of time as the class. For example, if the class is 50 minutes long, the homework will take about 50 minutes as well. That way, on days that the student does not have class, they are still exposed to the language. Our curriculum is also available on the student’s profile so they can print out sheets and practice when not in class.

By taking classes twice a week, the student will finish two semesters of Spanish study in one school year. Each semester is about 30 classes, or 4 months, giving them plenty of time to finish the two semesters from September to May.

While many of our students take classes twice a week, it is NOT mandatory. Remember, the classes are designed to fit your schedule and lifestyle. If you want your student to progress quickly, he or she can take 5 classes a week; if you would prefer less frequent classes, that is also completely fine. The schedule is completely up to you.

Do the Classes Have to be Completed in a Certain Time Frame?

Since our program fits your schedule, the classes do not have to be completed by a certain date. If you would like your school year to be a full 12 months instead September to May, that is completely fine. If you would like to start the school year in the summer to get a jump start, that is also fine. Basically, you make the schedule – the start date, end date, and weekly schedule are all up to you.

The only time the classes would ever expire is if you do not take classes for a full year. Other than that, there is no deadline for completion.

What is Covered in Each Class?

While we can’t go over every topic in this blog, I will briefly describe the general outline of a class.

Warm-up

Each class starts with a brief conversation to engage the student and build a relationship between the student and the teacher. As the student progresses, this conversation will have more and more Spanish components.

Review

If there was homework assigned in the previous class, the teacher will take time to review it with the student and go over any questions they missed. This is a great time for the student to ask questions and clear up any confusion they may have regarding the vocabulary or grammar.

The teacher will also take a couple of minutes to review the previous lesson and make sure the student remembers the material. We make sure not to push the student too fast, and reviewing material from the last class is a great way to make sure the student is ready to move forward.

Lesson

The teacher will pick up where they left off in the previous class. Each lesson has multiple components, starting with a presentation of the vocabulary/grammar followed by multiple exercises to practice the information.

While the goal is to complete a lesson in each class, that is not always the case as some lessons are more complex than others. The teacher moves at the student’s pace, making sure they are truly understanding the content.

Application

Depending on the student, this part can take many forms, from a simple conversation to an interactive game. The goal is to apply what was learned and end the class with a fun review session. The teacher will then assign appropriate homework to be completed before the next class.

How Fast Does the Student Progress?

This is a complicated question as each student has a unique learning method and our teachers take their time to make sure each student truly knows the material before moving on. That being said, the students, in general, do progress more quickly than in traditional classroom settings because of two main factors.

One-on-one Attention

In a normal classroom, the teacher is in charge of anywhere from 5-30 kids which makes it extremely difficult to help each one individually. Since our classes are one-on-one (or two-on-one in the case of paired classes), the student gets the teacher’s undivided attention. They can ask whatever question they need, review difficult topics, and get extra help where needed. This ensures the student moves towards fluency at a quicker rate than the students in a traditional classroom.

Native Speakers

All of our teachers are native Spanish speakers. A lot of Spanish teachers in public schools are not native speakers, and therefore do not have the mastery of the language that a native speaker does. Having a native speaker as a teacher ensures you will hear correct pronunciation, accurate sentence structure, and authentic conversations. This helps the student progress quickly towards fluency because they are being immersed in the language and culture.

Now, those two factors help a lot with fluency, but fluency is an intangible thing. What exactly will the students be able to do after a year with the Spanish Academy?

Spanish Skills after One Year

If your student is studying at the high school level, they will be able to have basic conversations after one year of studying with HSA. They will be able to use the present, past, and future tenses as well as talk about places, wants, and questions, just to name a few.

The high school curriculum progresses the fastest in terms of vocabulary and grammar, but even if your student is studying at the preschool level, they will be able to participate in simple conversations after one year as well. For example, in their first year, they will learn about introductions, family, and foods to name a few topics. They will be able to ask and answer questions and understand basic conversations.

As you can see, the main focus of every level is getting the student to conversational fluency, which is something you will be able to see clearly after just 2 semesters with HSA. The difference in the curriculum options is that as the age level increases, there is more focus on grammar topics, and they progress more quickly through vocabulary topics. However, no matter the age or level, you can expect to see great progress in conversational skills after a year of study, if not after just one semester!

For more details on the different curriculums available, click here.

Are the Students Graded on Anything?

In each semester, or 30 classes, there are four quizzes and four exams. The student will receive a grade for each of these that will count towards the final semester grade. Quizzes are worth 40%, exams 50%, and homework (graded on completion, not accuracy) 10%. Before each quiz and exam, there will be ample review to ensure the student is thoroughly prepared.

In the case of the younger students, they will not be told they are taking an official exam. Instead, the teacher will treat it more as a review, so the student does not stress. It is just a way to check their progress and make sure they are picking up on vocabulary and grammar.

We do offer freestyle programs if you would like your student to focus strictly on conversation and not worry about grades.

Do the Parents Need to Be Involved in the Classes?

If you have a younger student, we do advise that the parent be around when the student is taking the class. This does not mean they have to sit in on the class (although they may if they prefer to do so), but if the student has any technical difficulty, it is always good to have an adult close by. At the middle school and high school level, the parents can be as involved as they would like to be.

When purchasing classes, the parent creates an account that has access to each student’s class, homework, and syllabus information. If the parent would like, they can track the student’s progress there, print out the materials, and practice with the student. However, if they prefer a hands-off approach, they can leave it completely up to the teacher.

There are periodical parent-teacher conferences to make sure the parent is aware of the student’s progress. These usually happen during the first or last couple minutes of class, and the parent is notified of the meeting with sufficient notice.

Again, our program is very flexible. If you would like to be completely involved in the program, that is definitely an option. If not, our teachers are more than capable of ensuring the student’s progress.

Get started!

Now that we’ve looked at the different components of our Spanish classes, it’s time for you to experience it for yourself! Sign up for a FREE class today and see if it’s a good fit for your child. If you would like more information on the curriculum and specific topics your student will be taught, you can download a sample curriculum here. Give your student a bright future today!