Hello everybody,

I’m a professional language instructor from Buenoas Aires Argentina. I have been teaching Spanish, English and French for many years. I’m passionate about teaching, learning, and specially about interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds. For that same reason I love teaching online as I get to meet people that I would never have met otherwise. I have taught online for over two years to students from different corners of the world.

I like to encourage my students to get used to the “authentic” language rather to the “artificial” version that they’re exposed to in traditional classes. In other words, I like to bring “real life” into the classroom as much as possible by using movies, songs, talking on the phone with real people, etc.

I m a firm believer in this communicative approach to second language acquisition.

I am currently offering multi-person online classes where the instructor and a group of students can all see and hear each other. It’s much more fun and stimulating than the average one to one class. I would be very interested in knowing if anyone experienced this modality of online teaching, either as an instructor or student. I have been doing it for a few weeks and its tons of fun.

I haven’t been able to find anyone else offering this type of service, that is multi-party video classes. Pls get back to me If you have experienced any similar type of sessions.

S

Welcome, Sebastian! You have come to the right place! Edufire is going in this direction this fall, I believe. So you will feel right at home.

I totally agree with you, that students must use the language in conversation, as well as write the language, creating their own sentences, using the vocabulary they have acquired in their conversations. I am learning Mandarin, so I know that I must use the vocabulary to write my own scripts (at the restaurant, a tour of China, etc.) and then practice using it. That way, I understand and remember the words better, and my comprehension is better.

By the way, I have discovered that learning Mandarin is not difficult at all. Westerners do have the concept that it is hard, but it’s not! There are no verb conjugations, no plurals, and maybe one article to learn. I love it! You just have to learn that there are four tones and that some words have different meanings based on the tone used. So if you are reading this, you must learn Mandarin!!! Over a billion people speak Mandarin.
Leo Wei is my tutor. He’s very good.

You’re right, Candy, Leo is great! :)

Welcome Sebastian. :)

Sweet! I’m glad to know that edufire is heading in the direction of interactive and collaborative learning. As soon as I finish mastering Latin, I’ll consider giving Mandarin a try. It would be great to learn a language with no conjugation or grammatical complexities. hehehe! Thx for the suggestion Candy. And thx Marco for the warm welcome.

Fantastic to have you aboard Sebastian. I love (love!) the approach you take to teaching and am stoked to have you a part of eduFire. If you have any questions about the site or if we can help in any way don’t hesitate to reach out!

Thx a lot Jon I appreciate it. I’m sure I will have many questions as I go along. Cheers!

Welcome Sebastian!
Loved your introduction and your passion for teaching of course. You will love it here :)

Welcome aboard Sebastian! from an Argentinean to another! would you like a " mate"? ;)

Hello Sebastian! :) I’m relatively new to this place too, but I can tell you, you’re going to love it here! :)

And since you mentioned Latin, how long have you been studying it? :)

Hi Sebastian,

Welcome to the eduFire community!! You will be a perfect fit here.

Hi Sebastian,

it is a great community here and I am sure you will have much fun here :-)

Thx everybody for the warm welcome! I’m looking forward to know more about all of you and your experiences with online teaching. It’s great to know there are others that have the same vision and enthusiasm for teaching languages. As for Graciela’s question, of course, as an Argentinean, I can’t leave without my daily dose of “mate” which for some reason is very easy to get here in Montreal, Quebec.
Hello Sandra: with respect, to your question I have been studying Latin for a few years now. I still consider myself a low intermediate. I guess I’m a bit better as a teacher than a student. hehehe. What about you?

Well, I’ve been learning Latin for 6 years now, and I’m currently specializing in it at University (as a minor for my English major).

I just asked because I get excited everytime someone mentions it (online and in real life!) – it’s always great to meet people with similar interests!

Oh, and what is “mate”? :)

Mate is a kind of herb, and also, the name of the infusion that is very popular in Argentina, Uruguay and South of Brazil. It was the drink of the Guarany Indians. It is in a way a social kind of drink as you sip it, fill it with hot water and pass it on. It has a component called “mateine” which is very close chemically to “caffeine”. It gives you the boost of coffee but without it’s negative effects. If you google it you’ll see that it has all sorts of positive effects:vitamins, digestive, etc.

Beware: If you get the chance to taste it make sure you get the 3rd or 4th serving, the 1st one is too strong for a beginner. Each time you refill the mate the taste wears off progressively (for the best).

In terms of the Latin, I’m learning it as I’m a great admirer of many of the Latin poets such as: Ovid and Catullus. One day I’ll be able to read them in latin, I hope. In addition, knowing Latin is a great asset for me as I m doing a Phd in hispanic literature of the Siglo de Oro (17th century). Therefore I encounter Latin frequently in the texts I read. What are you doing currently in terms of your Latin studies? And what is you specialization in English lit?

I will definitelly try mate if I ever have the chance! :)

What a coincidence! Ovid is my favourite Latin poet as well! (I love his writings, but I also sympathize with him, because, as you may know, he was relegated and died at Tomis, which today is Constantza, a city in my own country! :) I love Catullus too, and all the elegiacs…

Last year I’ve studied Sallust, Plinius the Elder, Livy, Ovid, and Lucrece. When I say “studied”, I mean I had courses about them, with theoretical information on their lives and writings and translation and commentary of fragments of some of their works.

English – well, as undergraduates, we study the language (grammar, evolution etc) and literature equally; a narrower specialization only comes with a master’s degree, and I plan to take one in linguistics, not literature. I do love to read, and if I were to choose, I’d pick the Victorian novel…

Hey Sebastian, Sorry I’m late to the party but welcome to our fun and fabulous community!

Hola Sebastian! Bienvenido! Conozco tu país pero todavía no conozco Buenos Aires…algún día. I have had a lot of mate and it is true the first swig is mighty bitter. A bit like sipping a hot tea made of grass trimmings or hay. But, hey, it does give more than a pick-me-up.

Hi Sandra and Liz.

Liz: como que conocés Argentina pero no Buenos aires!!!! Debes visitarla.
Sobre todo por el aspecto cultural, gastronómico, y demás.

La llaman el Paris de Suramerica por algo.

Hasta pronto

S

Conozco Mendoza porque asistimos una boda allá. No nos quedó más tiempo para seguir hasta Buenos Aires. Que pena! Pues, tenemos la oportunidad de ir otra vez este diciembre y a lo mejor lo hacemos. Ah sí, la comida…pues sí estoy de acuerdo.

Hola Liz! Ojalá vengas a Buenos Aires! Podemos tomar unos mates! ;)

Welcome, Sebastian! I look forward to learning from you.

Welcome, Sebastian, to the Absolutely wonderful EDUFIRE family!!!
I’ve been here for quite a while. I’m from Buenos Aires too and speak spanish.
I have experienced multi-party teaching through web by testing Edufire’s soon to come new systems.
My approach when teaching is to give the student the feeling that they are talking to a friend but learning at the same time.
Hope we can talk some more one of these days!!

Sue

Hi Susan,

Were you raised in Buenos Aires? If not, how long have you been living there? Glad to know that I’m not the only “porteño” in the Edufire family.

With respect to the multi-party video conference for teaching, I ve been testing it with my own private students for a few weeks (prior to hearing from edufire), and it’s really great. I’m glad that they will implement it at edufire. The only obstacle I encountered is that multi-party video conferencing requires that the participants have recent computers, high-speed internet, a good webcam, and a good headset. Unfortunately it’s not always the case. I’m curious to see how the new platform will work in that respect.Anyways, thx for the warm welcome, and hope to talk to you soon.

Hi Sebas!

I was born in England but moved here when I was just 4 years old, so I was raised here and my spanish is fully “porteño”. There are a couple other Argentos here, don’t you dare feel lonely!!!!
This is a lovely family, you will find lots of nice people here. Multi-party lessons are much more active and fun, but internet connection and updated computers can be a big issue. Hopefully Edufire will find the best way to solve this so we can all enjoy this.

Talk to you soon,

Sue

Interesting!

Now, I don’t have an excuse to feel lonely! hehehe.

Actually, here in Montreal, I interact constantly with people from very diverse ethnic and cultural origins. Montreal is really a very multicultural city. So in that sense, I get along pretty well with people from all countries.

For some reason though, there aren’t many argentineans in Montreal. Maybe it’s the cold. I guess you can’t really have a “mate” outside your house when it’s -30 c.

Anyways, hasta pronto!