Having trouble with Spanish? Classes can help
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Citing numerous requests, the Warren County Community Education Program will offer its first community class, conversational Spanish, beginning next month.
“This type of class is more in demand everyday,” said adult education director Ron Martin. “Ours will be a small class which will work on basic Spanish conversation. It will be perfect for various business owners who need to communicate with Spanish-speaking clients.”
The new class will give adult learners the opportunity to learn the language in small groups. Maximum class size will be 10 students.
Fluent Spanish speaker Laura Damron is the instructor. A 1999 graduate of New York University with a degree in education, she has had ample experience with foreign languages. In addition to teaching a bilingual kindergarten class in the New York City School System, she has taught English as a foreign language in a Kenyan primary school.
Most recently Damron was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay. While on assignment she developed and used her Spanish skills to help Paraguayan teachers and school administrators improve classroom learning.
Damron said she will teach Spanish in the same manner she learned while on her Peace Corps assignment – immersion. Not a word of English will be spoken in class, she said, and while it will be frustrating at times, it is the most effective way to learn. It’s not as difficult as it sounds, she added, noting if it could work for her it can work for anyone.
“The class will be very informal with no defined curriculum. After the basics, what’s taught will depend on what people want to learn. It will be very flexible,” Damron said.
The class will begin Aug. 5 and will meet once or twice a week at the Adult Learning Center adjacent to the middle school. Anyone interested should call Martin at 473-9850.