Spanish with Mariana M.

Graduated with Honors (Sigma Delta Phi) with a BA in Spanish from Arcadia University, Glenside, PA, 2010 -Has 21+ years dance experience in Western dance (ballet, jazz, hip-hop, modern, ballroom etc.) -Has 4 years experience as a professional belly dancer in Philadelphia, performing and teaching around PA and south NJ. -Has more than 10 years combined experience teaching dance to all ages (toddlers, children, pre-teens, teenagers, college students and adults). -Has 5 years training in tutoring students in Spanish (all ages) -Is fluent in Spanish (teaches Latin American Spanish) Dance is my passion, and I'm looking forward to working with serious dancers that want to push their technique and training to the next level. Working privately with me, we can develop a personal lesson plan that combines strength and conditioning, drills, choreography and performance tips and tricks. Mariana will help you become a stronger, more rounded dancer, all she asks is that you never say "I can't" and you believe in yourself. Struggling with Spanish? Learning a different language is hard work, so give yourself a break! Mariana has worked with all ages (kids to adults) and has honed her tutoring technique to be personalized because let's face it: we don't all learn the same. Mariana is a fan of drills but knows that not all people learn the same. Mariana uses media, pop culture, music and television to give students a more practical and fun approach to really learning grammar, verbs, conjugation, vocabulary and more. Mariana is also particular about pronunciation (a focus she thinks is not stressed enough). Mariana will work on pronunciation with you so even if you only know a handful of Spanish, you'll sound polished when you speak. *** Lesson Details *** Let's get started! But before we do, every student will take a small assessment to best understand what we need to work on, focus on, and what kind of progress we can expect to see. We'll also set some goals, a realistic timeline when they'll be achieved and what kind of learning style suits you best. After that we're ready to start! Part 1: Dance Classes (*until April 2014- Dance classes are available only online, thank you). If you're interested in dance classes, your assessment will be a crucial starting point as well as give me an idea what you're looking for. My job is not just to teach you HOW to dance, but more of train you as a personal coach would. A rough outline of a customized intensive dance course is as follows: Warm up Drills (ballet/modern: barre work, jazz/hip-hop/modern: floor work, belly dance: drills (hips, arms, isolation etc), flamenco/Latin ballroom: footwork, center floor, break downs) Choreography Polishing (specific choreography, entering/exiting, competition preparation) Cool down/optional: video critique (Mariana strongly believes that videotaping choreography- in it's full or rough state, will give dancers a better idea of how they look performing, and if any changes need to be made. During cool down is the perfect time to review the tape). Spanish Lesson Plan (*Spanish lessons are currently available online or in person! Schedule one today!) *After your assessment we're make a more detailed plan, but it will generally include the following: -Conjugation practice (from present to imperfect of the subjunctive) -Vocabulary intensive (the bigger your vocabulary the higher level of fluency you can achieve) -Pronunciation critique (this is Mariana's personal favorite: no one wants to sound like a "gringo" and Mariana will help you really hone your pronunciation so you sound polished and educated). -Reading (a helpful part of the pronunciation block, is to read aloud. Mariana will spend time having you read and work on pronunciation as well reading fluency. -Writing (writing will help that muscle memory, specifically the brain recognize words). -Pop Culture/Television: to combine what's been learn, Mariana will combine and wrap up the lesson with some fun bits from pop culture and television so you can start to see how Spanish is used in day to day life as well as just have fun. *To help you progress as a student, there will be pop quizzes and occasional unit tests. Just remember the purpose is to help you succeed (scholastically or just in learning a new language). If you have test/quiz anxiety and need extra time or would like to talk more in depth, just let me know and we'll chat!. This is just a rough outline of what you can expect but recognize that I want you to get the most out of your lessons so if you have a specific area you want to work on, let me know and we'll make a customized plan just for you. I look forward to meeting and working with you. Feel free to contact with questions any time. *Please note: the times on the calendar are not 100% set in stone, if you need a specific time, let me know and we'll see what we can do.