Online Spanish Students Testimonies
James Bryan, Reino Unido
Maria has been my Spanish teacher for more than 3 years and she has done a fantastic job at teaching me to speak the language and I would recommend her classes to all Spanish students.
During my time with Maria I have progressed from speaking no Spanish to passing my Dele B2 exam and being confident in both personal and business settings. When I began learning, her classes were always very well prepared, lots of fun and she is flexible around timings. I think the homework that she gives and corrects is additionally very useful to ensure that the knowledge gained during the class stays with you. For the preparation of the Dele exam, we had to get more serious and spent a lot of time working on grammar, vocabulary and ironing out issues with my pronunciation which gave me a lot of confidence going into the exam.
I would recommend learning a language to anyone and Maria´s classes are a great place to both start and to improve your Spanish!
Allison Oneill, EE.UU.
Maria’s Spanish classes were the best decision I made in my dual citizenship process!
Joining the process very late, I had a short turnaround time to pass the DELE A2 test. I had minimal Spanish experience. What’s worse: I had developed lots of bad habits in grammar, pronunciation and syntax. Luckily, I found Maria’s classes online. Not only is she an expert teacher with realistic objectives, and tailored plans to reach them, but she is patient and kind with her students, with no qualms if she has to remind you of something two to 12 more times! Not only did I pass the DELEA2 test, but it gave me the foundation I needed to pass CCSE as well. I couldn’t recommend Maria’s classes higher! Thanks for everything.
Susan Bonsell, EE.UU.
I studied Spanish with María for several months in preparation to take the DELE A2. I had studied Spanish previously for many years but many years ago. There were grammatical concepts that I’m not sure I had ever understood. María helped me to finally understand them. Each session was tailor-made for me and where I needed to improve. Her method is very reassuring and confidence-building. I could tell as the months progressed that my Spanish improved significantly. After each session, María would send me an email with homework that was specific to what we had covered or what we were going to tackle at the next session – sometimes multiple emails! I was encouraged to do them all but never pressured. While we were able to focus on the specific challenges of the DELE A2, María took a holistic approach to polishing my Spanish. She really listened, diagnosed my errors and helped remedy them. María makes sure that the classes are both fun and educational with her calm and encouraging style. I can’t say enough good things about my experience. ¡Gracias María!
Helen F., Alemania
The Spanish lessons with María are exactly what I was looking for: Highly personalized classes, where I can ask for specific topics to work on. And if I don’t, María comes up with an interesting topic herself and surprises me with another fascinating detail of the Spanish language.
María’s class is based on communication, that is, speaking is at its center. She easily combines new grammatical topics with interesting content, explores word fields and new structures that are of interest to me and smoothly corrects my language via the Skype chat while we are talking.
Since we share the same profession, I know what an effort it is to design classes of such quality, but María’s proficiency and experience make them very dynamic and highly efficient!
Michelle Reich, EE.UU.
When I learned that I had two months to take and pass the DELE A2 I was nervous about finding the right tutor! I took Spanish more than a decade ago, and I speak fluent Italian, so I needed a lot of help switching my vocabulary recall to Spanish. I researched many options, and I am so glad I chose María. The lessons were targeted to my specific problem areas, and always included exam practice. María is patient and also focused on keeping things on track. She would answer my questions, but also make sure I didn’t go too far off-topic, especially since I had limited time. I had a lot of confidence walking into the exam. I’m happy to say I passed with flying colors, thanks to her tutelage! I have recommended María to everyone else I know who also needs to pass the DELE A2.
R.B., EE.UU.
I worked with Maria to prepare for the A2 DELE. I can’t praise her enough. I was very stressed about this exam and Maria was wonderfully patient and supportive. I had initially thought that I didn’t need a teacher and would just practice with my parents because they’re native speakers. However, this only resulted in a lot of frustration and seriously spiked my anxiety regarding the exam. When you’re trying to learn or improve in a language, there is just no substitute for a professional teacher. Maria knows the DELE exams incredibly well; she told me exactly what to expect, gave me more than enough practice in every DELE category, identified the areas I was the worst in and sent me study materials and homework geared to my level and deficiencies. She even let me send audio to her on WhatsApp so that I could do additional practice for the oral portion of the DELE. She’s great at explaining the rules of grammar clearly and is very diligent and professional; she responded to emails promptly, corrected my homework within a day, was always exactly on time for our lessons, etc.
Even though the DELE is now over, I plan on continuing my studies with Maria. I’m excited about improving my Spanish and it’s not easy to find such a good teacher. I strongly recommend her. No matter your level or how shy you might be about speaking Spanish, etc., she will definitely make you feel comfortable and get you moving forward.
Luka Poplukar, Eslovenia.
«El blog para aprender español lo conocí muy pronto o mejor dicho lo conozco desde su principio. Conocí a Maria cuando ella trabajaba en una escuela privada para enseñar español en Madrid. Desde entonces no solo somos el ex alumno y profesora pero somos amigos.
Yo tengo suerte que puedo ir a Madrid o a España a menudo pero mucha gente no puede por el trabajo, famila ect. Por eso yo veo El blog que lo esta manejando Maria como una buena forma para aprender español, y mejorarlo con las clases de español por Skype. Y también tener clase con Maria es una experiencia muy buena. Con ayuda del blog no solo que aprendes gramática y lengua también conservas la cultura, historia, la vida de los españoles. Yo le sigo mucho porque en las lenguas siempre hay algo que no sabes.
Como modelo, escritor y empresario hay que hablar muchas lenguas porque yo soy de Eslovenia y somos 2 millones de hablantes de esloveno y de hecho, hay muchos que hablan español.
El blog para aprender español es una fuente de conocimiento. «
«El blog para aprender espaniol sem spoznal v bistvu ga poznam že od njegovega nastanka. Marijo, ki je vse skupaj začela, sem spoznal v privatni šoli španščine v Madridu. Od takrat sva ne le bivši učenec in profesorica ampak sva postala prijatelja.
Imam srečo, da lahko večkrat obiščem Madrid in Španijo. Vsi pa te sreče nimajo tako zaradi dela, družine, ect. Zato se mi El Blog , ki ga opravlja Marija, kot neka učinkovita metoda za pridobivanje znanja Španščine. Pav tako pa so ure španščine z Marijo nekaj nepozabnega.
Z el Blog ne dobiš le znanja slovnice in jezika na splošno, prav tako se spoznaš s kulturo, zgodovino in predvsem vidiš kako živijo španci.
Kot podjetnik, model, pisatelj mi je potrebno govoriti vsaj še kak drug jezik kot slovenščino. In španščina je eden od bolj razširjenih jezikov v svetu.
Zame je el Blog vodnjak znanja, ki ga redno obiskujem.»
Tyler Macdonald, EE.UU.
I contacted María after hearing about her from another student of hers because I needed help passing the Oral Proficiency Interview to become a teacher. I had taken the exam twice prior to starting my tutoring sessions with her. She really helped me to fill out a lot of gaps that I had in my Spanish education by going over grammar and vocabulary that I struggled with. We also were able to focus on the most difficult elements of the test which was the role play and narration in the past. After a couple of months of tutoring with María, I was able to pass the test and I will now be able to continue my career as a teacher. I’m so grateful to her and I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.
Michele Hughes, EE.UU.
María me ha ayudado en muchas formas diferentes en mis clases. Primero, ella es mi conexión al mundo hispanohablante afuera de mis días escolares como maestra en una escuela de secundaria cerca de Chicago. Uso mi español allí, pero siempre tengo las mismas conversaciones diarias con padres y estudiantes. Con mis clases puedo practicar para mantener mi fluidez usando lenguaje más avanzado y diverso. Trabajamos en conversar y ella ‘limpia’ mi español «sobre la marcha». Además de eso, María tiene un plan específico y personalizado en las cosas en que tengo que mejorar y enfocamos en algunos puntos gramaticales poco a poco para eliminar mis errores más comunes. Es una manera muy natural y divertida para continuar mis estudios de español- no solo para mi trabajo, pero para mi interés en ser un hablante efectiva también.
Matthieu Rivage, Francia
Tras 2 años de cursos en Donostia, busqué una manera de mantener y seguir desarrollando mi nivel. Traté unos sitios diferentes y decidí trabajar con Maria. Me permite practicar cada semana, profundizar unos puntos gramaticales y trabajar los expresiones en contexto. Ademas, ya que llevo los distribuidores españoles en mi trabajo, Maria supo adaptar sus clases a mis necesidades en vocabulario comercial y técnico. Tenemos clases desde el año 2013.
Maricarmen Michelsen, Canadá
Luego de tratar por otros medios de ahondar mi conocimiento de la gramática española, tuve la suerte de entrar en contacto con el blog para aprender español. En las clases de María, he encontrado profesionalidad, conocimiento, así como extrema paciencia y dedicación. Su estilo práctico y conciso para resolver mis preguntas me ha facilitado el transmitir con sencillez lo aprendido con ella, a mis propios alumnos. La conveniencia de lecciones mediante Skype ha sido para mí , además, un factor determinante y muy apreciado.
Margaret Sikorska, France
I have been taking online lessons with Maria for almost 3 years. Before subscribing, I was looking for Spanish lessons that would fit best my needs and my availability.
Luckily I found Maria’s blog. I started by taking a trial lesson that helped me decide to go for more lessons. Until now, I have been taking one lesson per week and thanks to Maria’s professionalism and great preparation I am confident that we are making the best use of the time.
At the beginning I was a bit sceptical for lessons through Skype. In reality, call quality is good, using headphones helps a lot and online lessons give me more flexibility. Most of the time I use my phone to join the lesson. It is so much convenient for me to practice Spanish from home. Working by chat is very helpful, it allows me verify the spelling of words and expressions and it helps me a lot with lessons revision.
It is fun to learn new vocabulary and grammar with variety of games and tailored practice exercises during the lesson. Online exercises and videos complement them perfectly to practice Spanish every day and encourage me to explore further. I find the lesson subjects relevant, diverse and interesting. I enjoy learning Spanish with Maria, as she focus a lot on practical conversations and you can see that she adapts the content of the lesson to each individual student. I find Maria’s approach to practice Spanish efficient, I have a chance to travel to Spain occasionally and I realised my level of comprehension and speaking is improving.
One of the main difficulties I encounter when I start learning a new foreign language is having the courage to speak. Surprisingly, since the very beginning Maria has helped me build my confidence to speak Spanish. The progress was quicker then I was expecting.
It is worth to note that I even recommended Maria to my French teacher, who was looking for complementary Spanish lessons for her daughter.
You won’t regret to try it yourself!
Matthew Sebag-Montefiore, Reino Unido
Como soy un hombre en mis cuarentas y tengo un trabajo en el que yo viajo mucho y también las horas de trabajo cambian mucho, tenía que aprender español para el DELE A2 y por esta razón, quise un método flexible con mi vida.
Un amigo me recomendó a Maria y fue una solución perfecta. Yo pude tomar las clases cuando quise y también con el vídeo las clases eran muy efectivas. Yo he tomado las clases cuando iba andando con el perro, en el coche (¡no conduciendo!), en la oficina, en un hotel y otros lugares.
Además de todo, María es una profesora muy amable y muy efectiva. Ahora yo he aprobado el examen con buenas notas y también puedo hablar bastante bien para que la gente me entienda.
Yo recomiendo a Maria y El blog para aprender español totalmente.
Gianbattista Paroletti, Italia
Nonostante abbia qualche anno di studio dello spagnolo alle mie spalle studiare con Maria è stata una rivoluzione.
Il mix tra lezioni fatte realmente a misura delle mie necessità e la sua esperienza nell’ insegnare a studenti di diversa provenienza mi sta permettendo di progredire nella conoscenza della lingua e di risolvere alcune mie lacune causate vuoi dalla interferenza con l’italiano vuoi da errori nell’apprendimento di alcune regole basi della grammatica.
Barbro Tvedt, Noruega
Medical Spanish Student
“Jeg kan på det sterkeste anbefale spansk timer over skype med María. Hun er en engasjert og motiverende lærer, som gjør sitt ytterste for å gjøre timene lærerike og interessante. Hun har bred kunnskap innen mange fagfelt og kan mye om ulike kulturer. Hun tilpasser timene til dine ønsker. Som lege har jeg blant annet hatt flere timer der vi har fokusert på fagspesifikke temaer.»
«I warmly recommend Spanish over skype with María. She is a dedicated, motivating and inspiring teacher. She has the gift of making the classes both interesting, fun and educational. She has broad knowledge in many fields and professions. She personalizes the classes and adapt the teaching to your level and needs.»
Thomas Schnarr, Alemania
“My Spanish classes with Maria have been spectacular: I had some prior knowledge of Spanish but also many deficiencies. Maria was capable to adjust the content of our lessons to my level of proficiency. I enjoyed immensely the opportunity to practice my conversational skills as well as improve my grammar. Working via videoconference proved to be efficient and also hassle-free. Maria is very kind, patient and flexible but at the same time will give you the stretch you need in order to develop. I am highly satisfied and looking forward to continuing my learning experience with her”
Oliver Richards, Reino Unido
A friend gave me a present of 6 lessons. I was sceptical but have got hooked.
I was immediately impressed that María wanted to understand my motivation for learning Spanish before agreeing to take me on.
The combination of Skype video link and message pad is excellent – a live conversation with the potential to see words you can’t hear or don’t know. In some ways it is better than face to face sessions.
Maria is charming and supportive – we have great conversations that thread through the lessons.
María’s considerable experience at using the blog allows her to assess the level of a student and pace the lessons to great effect.
This really is an excellent and fun way to learn a new language.
Dennis Tearle, Reino Unido
Al principio estaba cauteloso, sí no muy confiado a hacer estudios de idiomas por Skype, un medio que percibía como bastante impersonal; pero sin lugar a dudas, resultó una experiencia grata y absorbente.
Con Maria, encuentras no solo una profesora agradable y comprensiva, sino también una persona muy inteligente, perspicaz y totalmente entregada a sus estudiantes y la enseñanza de español. Esta claro que para ella cada estudiante es un individuo y esta muy dispuesta a explorar temas e ideas que interesan más al estudiante; por este modo, las clases se convierten en proyectos personales por los cuales se estudia y se explora de manera profunda la mecánica de la gramática por ejercicios alucinantes como, por ejemplo, la escritura creativa, lecturas y de textos literarios, estudios de cine incluso cortometrajes artisticos, además de otros ejercicios más controlados y prácticos que abarcan temas culturales con motivo de provocar conversación y de abrir un conocimiento más amplio de la lengua y cultura española/hispana.
En fin, si estás dispuesto/a a dedicarte a tus estudios de español de mente abierto, las clases de EBPAES te recompensarán cien veces.
Jessica Marlborough, Reino Unido
I have been having Spanish classes with Maria since 2014, and have since recommended her excellent service to many of my friends and colleagues who still learn with her today. She is a wonderful teacher and goes above and beyond to help you learn Spanish in the most efficient and effective way. Skype classes are especially great, because not only can you focus on learning to speak and listen face to face, you can also use the chat feature to understand how things are written and enhance exercises during the class. This method is great for the busy professional as you can take her with you all over the world through your iPad/ laptop, and don’t lose any valuable time travelling to classes. She is also very flexible on timings and provides bespoke homework to complete outside of class times, which enhances the classes further and comes at no added cost. Do not hesitate to try it out!
Alex Plehn, Reino Unido
I have been taking classes with Maria for over 4 years now and during this time, she has successfully helped me through my GCSE´s, A-levels and now my University degree. It is very fair to say that I would not have improved my Spanish to such a degree nor received the grades I did without her help!
She is a kind and funny lady and an excellent teacher. She is the only Spanish teacher I have had who actually manages to make grammar quite an enjoyable topic. She is very engaging and will ensure that you ´know your stuff´ by the end of each class.
She will also go out of her way to make sure that you know a topic, or pass a class, as she has spent hours of her own time correcting my work.
I highly recommend Maria as a teacher!
Bart van der Vliet, Holanda
I still remember my first Skype lesson with María: I was a bit anxious and insecure about how the lesson would go. I have had Spanish lessons before, but almost always in groups and never before on the internet and my level wasn’t quite as good. Now, about a year and a half later, I’m much better at speaking and understanding Spanish! I really love to talk to María, she makes me feel at ease. Most of the time classes start off with a half hour conversation and the other half new subject matter. I learned so much about the Spanish culture and family life and at the same time I made a new friend.»
Federica, Italia
In 2011 I moved to Madrid and I had the pleasure to study with Maria in a Spanish language school. I really enjoyed her lessons and I decided to keep learning Spanish with her.
Maria is a very professional teacher and her communicative method really helps students to speak the language. I improved my Spanish a lot and she planned all my lesson based on my needs.
Maria understands student’s needs and her teaching style is unique. I loved being one of her Spanish students and enjoyed our classes. At the end of each lesson, I couldn’t wait for the next one.
She is always ready to help, patient, well organized and I can see and feel how much she loves her job.
I recommend learning Spanish with Maria to everyone. Her experience allows Maria to perfectly work with children, young people and adults.
I had many Spanish teachers, but Maria is absolutely the best. She will never disappoint you!
Lira, Filipinas
Learning Spanish with María is a great experience. The program is well structured, well presented, interesting and follows a natural progression in learning yet fun and engaging at the same time.
The convenience of learning Spanish from a native speaker in the comfort of your own home and at your own pace is definitely an advantage to consider.
Jaime Murcia, Australia
I studied with Maria for one month, I was not a beginner, but I needed a lot of practice as well as a better understanding of grammar, I found Maria to be an excellent teacher, always prepared for class and very patient and always helpful! She made me feel very comfortable learning Spanish. The lessons were great. I liked that the lessons primarily focused on how to speak, which can be very difficult, so it is good to start there. And then the rest of the language will follow. The material was great, the games were lots of fun, very accessible for a beginner.
Kris Williams, EE.UU.
I was a student of Maria’s during 2 consecutive summers in Madrid. Every day during my first 5-week session, Maria met me with an infectious smile and a well-thought-out plan. I felt lucky to have a teacher with her enthusiasm. Maria made each of her students want to participate in any discussion she initiated, and gently encouraged words out of our mouths, no matter how mangled the sounds in the beginning might have been.
I was thrilled to be assigned to Maria’s class during my second 6-week study period. Maria has a general knowledge of many subjects, which meant that our Spanish conversations were never boring. Through Maria’s teaching I not only became a better speaker of Spanish, but I also became a better-informed citizen of the world. I consider Maria not only a teacher, but a friend.
Steven S., EE.UU.
Maria is the best! She breaks down linguistic elements into component parts, making each lesson readily accessible. Her methodology is focused, firm, and, most of all, fun. Maria is a delight. I wholeheartedly recommend her as your personal guide on a journey into Spanish!
Would you like to be one of my Spanish students?
Join the Skype Spanish Lessons at El blog para aprender español!