I am currently studying Spanish language (especially Mexican, Latin American and S. American dialects and culture), but I'm hoping to revive my German (I haven't used it regularly). I also hope to add new skills in multiple languages! I am a very visual learner and I especially need to reinforce my verb conjugations and general skills in language production. I hope to practice writing and speaking, but could definitely use visual reinforcement with new words and phrases (spelling on a whiteboard helps a lot!). I have done considerable amounts of translations, and enjoy this, but recognize that I need to be able to translate in to my target language as well and I also hope to strengthen my interpretation skills. I previously taught English to high school students and students preparing for college. I enjoy helping students improve their writing and presentation skills and have been both the teacher and the learner numerous times. I have studied foreign languages in a variety of settings and I am very aware of my learning styles and what tricks have worked for me (and what tricks worked for others). I am a motivated learner and I enjoy setting deadlines and meeting tangible goals, particularly with an instructor that is reliable, structured, and willing to laugh. My hope is to find an instructor willing to meet regularly and focus on the skills to develop to strengthen my weaknesses, rather than broadly teaching language skills for general development. I hope to find an instructor who will model the correct grammar and structure of the language, but allow me to speak or write for content first (and then corrects the grammar after the content is in place). More than anything I'm hoping to build my confidence in speaking and writing and recognize that the more I practice and interact with other speakers the more opportunities I will have to self-correct and hear the correct grammatical structures.