FINAL MILE Spanish
No one starts fluent . . . They just start.
Our Students
We have a broad range of students.
Our Students
Our Program is designed for motivated students, from beginner to advanced, who want to achieve fluency. We specialize in Naturalization – getting you to speak. Our student population is comprised of various demographics, ranging from eleven-year-olds to seniors in their eighties, including students from elementary to graduate school, medical professionals, lawyers, tradespeople, stay-at-home parents, missionaries, philanthropists, and retirees.
The majority of our students in the homeschooling program are high-school age, but some are getting a jump start as early as fourth grade. Excellent results have been reported when students start Spanish at the same time they are studying basic English grammar. The two subjects complement and reinforce each other.
Some of our adult students come to us as beginners, but most of them have already taken one or more years of Spanish and are usually disappointed that they are not able to speak. If speaking is your challenge, we encourage you to give us a try. And prepare to be amazed!
Half of our students are medical professionals – nurses, P&O, doctors and surgeons. They are committed to providing the best possible care for their patients, and they feel that quite a bit is “lost in translation” when they work with interpreters, human or automated.
Many of our students want to travel and communicate directly with people in Spanish-speaking countries. We have students who like to do volunteer work in Caribbean and Latin American countries. And we have students who want to move to a Spanish-speaking country upon retirement.
We have a great deal of experience working with older adults. We recognize and leverage the advantages of older adults to facilitate their learning. We have had tremendous success with this age group and very much enjoy working with them.
Whatever your background, if you are a motivated learner, we invite you to give our program a try and join our growing family.
55 Plus Community
Countless of recent studies have revealed that learning a new language as an adult stimulates the brain and helps to prevent degenerative neurological disease. Not that there aren’t many other great reasons to learn a new language! for a list of some recent articles, click here
Many older adults are hesitant to take on the challenge because they have been away from the classroom for quite some time and are not confident of their learning ability. It is very rewarding for us to watch this fear dissipate in the first couple of sessions. We find that older adults actually have advantages when it comes to learning a language. Life experience expands our horizons and teaches us to appreciate diversity, not to mention discipline and time management. Retired adults usually have more time to dedicate to the task, and are more relaxed and able to focus. Many times they also have more freedom to travel. All of this contributes to motivation, which is the single most important determinant of success.
All our Instructors have learned a new language as an adult. This makes them much better instructors, since they understand the challenges first-hand and can relate to adult students.
Medical Professionals
We are currently experiencing high demand for Spanish classes from medical professionals. These are dedicated professionals motivated to provide better care to their patients by speaking directly with them. Also, many employers offer bonuses or additional compensation to bilingual personnel. Whatever the reason, we welcome the opportunity to help you achieve your goal.
We have developed content and gathered resources specific to medical professionals. Our Lead Instructor has medical training as Medical Person in Charge on U.S. Coast Guard licensed vessels.
Our Instructors volunteer as Interpreters for Flying Samaritans.
About
My name is Angélica Méndez. Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated by foreign languages. I learned Spanish and English as a child. In college I studied German, followed shortly thereafter by Portuguese. After that I studied at language schools in France, Italy, and Germany.
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My love for languages is two-fold. I am fascinated by the mechanics of language, but also by the tremendous positive impact that it has had in my life. Being able to communicate directly with another human being who has a vastly different background is inspiring. When people communicate, people grow. And if we can communicate with different people, we grow even more.
My other passion is teaching. Ever since I was very young, I organized study groups with my friends. I loved the challenge of finding a way to explain a concept to someone in a way that they could understand it. I realized quickly that it is not the student’s fault when they don’t understand. It just needs to be explained in terms they are prepared to understand.
I started teaching languages as an undergraduate. I worked in the language labs for the Modern Languages Department at Loma Linda University. I loved every minute of it. This was a great opportunity to learn different language teaching methods. After I graduated, I taught English as a Second Language in group classes. Working directly with the students I began to understand what worked and what didn’t. And how it was different from one student to another. I learned that individualized instruction is even more important in teaching languages. I learned to “read” each student to figure out what they needed. This is essential to be an effective teacher. Over the years I have learned many different methods. But knowing when and where to use them is just as important.
I also have a technical background. I have a B.S. degree in Computer Science from University of California. I did my graduate work in Software Engineering at Stanford University. I worked in the high-tech industry for a number of years – no surprise here, in Communication Software!
My husband and I share a love of travel. We have traveled to more than sixty countries, and to all seven continents. Being able to speak multiple languages has added a major dimension to our travel. We have met many people and gotten to know them in a way that simply would not have been possible if we couldn’t speak the same language. It is not possible to overstate how much this has enriched our life. And this is what we want to share with our students.
Sharing our experiences with other people here in the U.S., we became increasingly aware that many people have not been so fortunate. Language learning has been a frustrating and demoralizing experience for them. There are millions of people in the U.S. who have taken one or more years of a foreign language in high school or college, but cannot follow basic directions, let alone hold a conversation. What goes wrong? Why has this been such a positive experience for me, yet so negative for so many others? What is the problem? The problem is the teaching, NOT the student. If you read our Content & Methodology sections you will see that there are two very distinct parts of teaching a language. The first is the mechanics (grammar and vocabulary) which is relatively straight-forward to teach. The second is the naturalization part. The first part only prepares you to be successful in the second part. But most courses stop at the first part. So, FINAL MILE was conceived. We specialize in coaching the student all the way to fluency. We use the word “coaching” because we strongly believe languages are learned, not taught. The motivation has to be there for the student to absorb the language. When the teacher doesn’t know naturalization methods, the student invariably becomes frustrated and loses motivation. And the sad result is the staggering number of people walking around believing that they were at fault, that they are “not good with languages.” We at FINAL MILE remedy that. If you have tried before but can’t speak, it is NOT your fault. Our aim is “We dust off your high-school Spanish and take you to fluency.” Bring us your high-school Spanish, even if it is from thirty years ago. Together we will journey to fluency.
Testimonials
Hear What Others Have To Say
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