“We are excited to continue working with John and Christina and feel that they are on this journey with us!”

“Happily, there were lots of overlapping motivations. Being conversant in another language opens your view of the world, and I really missed that feeling. So when I learned about the UVA education benefit + Speak tutoring from a colleague, I knew right away I’d sign up for it at some point.“

“When I was much younger, I tried to learn German and French, but now know neither of those languages. During my travels, I always wished I could speak to people in their own language. I thought that if I learned Spanish, I might be more likely to use it in other countries and in our own, and therefore to remember it…“

“My pandemic experience has been all-but-consistent, but having daily classes with Alejandra (or even a less intense but still regular schedule in the fall) vastly helped me through this year. I remember stretches in the summer where I had very little motivation and was really just making it through the days, but by the end of my lesson with Alejandra I would have a wide smile on my face and I would be bouncing around the house with energy and satisfaction to share.“

We had the pleasure of meeting Eric Ramirez-Weaver, Associate Professor of Art at the University of Virginia in 2017, when he began what was to become a 1.5 year individual Polish language course. In 2018, he decided to switch his Slavic focus to Czech, learning online with our Prague-based instructor, Jan. This past fall, Eric and his daughter, Olivia, decided to use their time at home to craft a Spanish silver lining, taking online Spanish lessons together with one of our stellar teachers, Paula Mercado.

“I want to keep working with Theresa until I graduate, by which time I hope to be proficient. Recently I have been doing some Portuguese on Duolingo, and I would also like to learn German someday.”

“… me and my wife attend Spanish mass sometimes at Church of the Incarnation in Charlottesville. I was surprised how much more I could understand at mass after I started class at Speak!.“

“I work with many Spanish speaking patients and families at the hospital and was inspired to learn Spanish because I felt that I was not providing the same level of care to these patients as to those who are English speaking.  Just being able to enter the patient’s room and introduce myself and my role in Spanish makes a huge difference in establishing trust and acceptance.“