"My name is Sanjay and I grew up in Oklahoma City. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations with a minor in Hispanic Studies from Lewis & Clark College in beautiful Portland, Oregon. I spent 10 months as an English Language Assistant at an elementary and middle school in El Cuervo de Seville, Spain. I designed and led interactive classroom activities that kept students engaged in learning English and American culture. I taught classes in grades 1-6, so I adapted lesson content to varying proficiency levels depending on the class. I always had a strong emphasis on keeping lessons interactive and engaging, utilizing games and fun activities. Outside of school, I tutored a senior in high school who was preparing for an end-of-high-school standardized exam that had an English section. I helped her prepare for reading comprehension, writing, and 'use of English' sections of the test. I used past exams to create exercises that target improvement on each individual section of the test. I found this experience to be the most rewarding for me, preferring the higher level education to that of the youngsters.

When I arrived to college, I was undecided on my major, but I knew that a goal of mine was to be fluent in Spanish. So I continued taking Spanish classes beyond the general education requirement, eventually leading me to opt for the Hispanic Studies minor. My semester abroad in Mérida, Mexico was when my Spanish level really took a leap. I was enrolled in local universities, taking normal college classes, four of which I was the only non-native Spanish speaker in the class. My experience in college really honed in my technical Spanish skills. My ten months in Spain compounded this, and greatly improved my colloquial spoken Spanish skills.

I understand how difficult Spanish can be for high school students, and I'm eager to not only help students improve their skills in the classroom, but also foster an environment that makes learning a second language fun and enjoyable." less...