Damron offers Spanish classes
Want to better communicate with Spanish-speaking clients, employees or friends? If so, you might be interested in the Warren County Community Education Program’s upcoming conversational Spanish class.
The highly successful class, now being offered for the fourth time, will once again be taught by fluent Spanish speaker Laura Damron.
A 1999 graduate of New York University with a degree in education, she has had much experience with foreign languages. In addition to teaching a bilingual kindergarten class in the New York City Schools, she taught English as a Second Language in a Kenyan primary school.
Most recently Damron served as 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.
Like her past Spanish classes, Damron said the upcoming class will be taught in the same manner she learned the language – immersion. And while this may sound extreme to some, she promises it’s not as bad as it might seem.
Testifying to the effectiveness of this style of learning is Melissa Volner, the first of Damron’s students to become fluent in Spanish after attending all of her three former classes.
“It requires determination – you have to be personally motivated – but it’s not brain surgery. It’s something everyone can do if you make it a priority,” Volner said.
“I took a Spanish class at Motlow in Tullahoma and it didn’t do anything for me. A lot of that had to do with teaching style. The immersion and the small classes made a big difference in my success.”
The beginning conversational Spanish class, scheduled to begin July 7, will contain two sessions, consisting of six people each. It will meet twice a week for seven weeks on Mondays and Wednesdays for two hours, with the one session meeting during the early evening and the other later during the evening.
Anyone interested in learning more or registering for the class, which will be held at the Adult Learning Center adjacent to the middle school, is urged to call Damron at 473-7829. The sessions will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, with all others being put on a waiting list. There is a fee for the class.