The Spanish teacher

Posted by Raimundo Estela in Students

Ixi Avila loves to travel, likes spending time in her homeland, Spain, with her friends, and loves her English boyfriend. But above all, she loves teaching Spanish.

Inspired by her aunt, this 21-year-old started teaching free Spanish classes during her semester at SFUAD.

“My aunt started taking classes in Spain on how to teach Spanish, and I always admired how she did that. The classes were very intense; she had a class in the morning and another one in the afternoon. I wanted to do that, but when I got the offer to come to Santa Fe, I spent the money I had for that course for the trip. When I got here I asked my aunt for advice on how to teach Spanish so I started learning how to do it properly,” says Avila.

Thin, tall, and always with a smile on her face, Ixi Avila always emits an air of confidence around her. Her lifelong dream of being able to travel while she is young is becoming a reality. Teaching Spanish has become a huge part of her life.

“I posted on the SFUAD Student Life Facebook page that I was going to give Spanish classes for free, and a lot of people answered my call. Right now I have classes on Wednesdays at 8PM with four students, they have been really good students and we all have a great time. We change the day of our classes if there are schedule problems and we’ve been doing alright for almost three months now,” she says.

One of the things she has learned by giving out classes is how excited her students are to learn the language. “I never expected that they would be like that. But living in New Mexico, where there are a lot of Spanish speaking people, it must be really frustrating to only know how to speak English, so they are always ready to learn and come very prepared for classes. They do all the exercises and talk [practice] in the cafeteria. So they’ve turned into really fast learners.”

One of her students, film major Austin Ross, says, “I want to know a second language and I want to be able to speak with people around me. There are so many international students that this is my perfect opportunity to learn it because I can directly speak with people. Ixi is still learning how to teach but she definitely knows her language. I think all students should at least try to learn another language.”

Avila will remain with her class until the semester is over, hoping the best for her students. “My idea is to teach them the basics so they can keep doing it on their own after I’m gone. There are still very difficult things like the verbs, which are very different in Spanish and English that I hope they can learn,” she says.

Once this semester is over, Avila will go back to Spain, keep studying and set her sights on her next goal: “Go to the UK, teach Spanish there and keep getting better,” she admits.