In the follow up to Dear Language Lovers, I chat with a fellow language enthusiast from Chile. She shared some childhood memories about learning English, the various languages she has studied over the years and the techniques she uses in the class as a language instructor.
Hola! Primero, gracias por hablar conmigo !
Yo quiero hablar de tu amor por los idiomas y tu viaje como docente.
Entonces, ¿como estas y como va tu dia?
Hola! Soy Victoria. Soy profesora de español e ingles.
Muchas gracias por confiar en mi para entrevistar en tu blog.
V shared that her interest in languages started when she was 5 years old learning English in school and spending her spare time immersed in the English-speaking culture. She spent time pretending to be Power Rangers and carefully translated the lyrics to famous Pop groups like Spice Girls. She was truly engulfed in a language learning experience.
Creo que comenzó desde cuando era muy pequeña y escuchaba música en inglés. Antes, cuando la música venía en cassettes, antes del CD, dentro venía una portada con un papel doblado en dónde venían las letras de las canciones. Recuerdo haberme visto traduciendo con un pequeño diccionario de mi escuela las canciones de las Spice Girls. Disfrutaba mucho haciéndolo.. Nosotros en Chile aprendíamos inglés desde Kinder, cuando teníamos 5 años, cuando veíamos a los Power Rangers y jugábamos a ser ellos. La cultura angloparlante estaba muy presente (Veliz, March 2025).
In her later years she continued to study various other languages such as German, Chinese and Portuguese. Her experience as a learner has helped her structure her English and Spanish classes as well as the multitude of webinars, conferences and seminars she attends. She strives to shape her tutorials around experiences and interests that motivate her students and immerse them in authentic conversations. V noted that one thing that she found fascinating is the subtle transition that learners make between the stage of mentally translating in the target language to L1 back to the target language vs. fluid speech in the target language.
Victoria is always open to new students so feel free to reach out!
W Wanderland 