During my time here I have been taking 2 hour private lessons three times a week with Amelia. In 2006 she obtained a 5 year degree from the University of Granada Licenciatura en Semitic Studies, which is the study of languages such as Arabic, Hebrew, Israelean, Jordan. This included one year of study abroad in Paris at INALCO - Institut Nacional des Langues et civilisations Orientales, which is a university for the study of languages of the Middle East. In 20012 she obtained a Masters Universitario en espanol como lengua extranjero from the University of Pablo de Olavide in Sevilla. Presently, she is working on obtaining a Master Universitario en formacion del profesurado de educacion secundaria obligatoriia y bachiller professional y ensenanza de idiomas from the University of Granada. Essentially, what this means is that she specializes in teaching Spanish as a foreign language.
Her education, professionalism and experience is evident in her teaching style. Her presence is exceedingly warm and nurturing which allows the learner to take the risks and gain the confidence needed to speak a foreign language. She makes good eye contact and her brown eyes literally sparkle. There is a light in her eyes that I don't think I've ever seen before. She rides her bike to work at the school and as I sometimes sit and work here at the school on my laptop as I am now, one can overhear her singing in her classroom when she is not teaching.
She speaks very slowly and clearly. She tells me that this is not an affect for teaching but in fact her normal mode of speaking. She sounds natural in speaking therefore and one does not then feel like an imbecile being spoken to in this way. She also has a rich and sonorous laugh and is easily amused it seems as she smiles and laughs freely throughout my lessons. I have also noted that sometimes she touches her heart to communicate sincerity in delivering a compliment. She may also add a bow to a compliment to deepen it's meaning.
Additionally, Amelia has taken special care and attention to ensuring that my lessons are culturally enriching in it's content, specific to my unique interests. As I inquired one day about the famous Spanish poet, Frederico Garcia Lopez of Granada, she responded with his history and told me that her favorite poet is Miquel Hernandez, also from the same era, "Generation 1927." When I came in for my lesson the following day she had prepared by bringing in poems from both authors which we translated.
An excerpt from Miquel Hernandez' poem Elegy to Ramon Sije Unceasing Lightening is deeply moving: "I want to mine into the earth until I find you and kiss your noble skull and take your shroud from you and bring you back. You will come back to my garden and my fig tree. Among the high flowery trellises your soul will flit like a bee in it's hive sewn with the wax of angels . You will come back to the murmuring of farm workers at their beloveds' windows. You will cheer up the shadow over my eyebrows and from either side your beloved and the bees will argue over your blood.
I'm going to miss these private lessons with Amelia. I have learned so much from her as my teacher here at the Spanish School of La Herradura.
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