If you've taken Spanish before and are wondering if you're a true Spanish beginner - take my ALAS 1 Level Assessment, and I'll let you know via email if I think ALAS 1 is the right level for you.

Note: Although an assessment is helpful, it may not determine your exact needs when it comes to Spanish. Since all of us come from varying backgrounds with Spanish, there are many things to consider...

💡 Consider the content of Alas I - If you've been studying Spanish for a little while, some of the Alas I topics will be familiar to you (i.e. present tense verb conjugations, ser and estar, forming questions, dates/time/numbers etc.) However, the question is, have you committed these things to memory? Are you able to produce them confidently on your own? Chances are, you still have holes in your Spanish with these fundamental topics because you were either rushed through them in the beginning or, you've just forgotten them as you've moved on to more advanced grammar topics.

💡 Consider the presentation of new material - Aside from the content, you have to consider the value of how things are being presented to you. A lot of my students have told me, "Dominique, I've seen this topic a million times before but it never really clicked in my brain until I heard you explain it. Now, I can actually use it in my Spanish because I finally understand it." As someone who learned and became fluent in this language as an adult, I really think that I offer a unique perspective in my explanations, which has helped students cement difficult concepts.

💡 Consider the importance of forming a language learning habit - Students often come to me feeling lost about how to even start studying Spanish. In the Welcome section of the course, I've included a 30-minute video with tips and strategies on How to Form a Daily Language Learning Habit, which has really offered an important mindset shift for my students.

💡 Consider the value of the Facebook community and conversation practice sessions - Even if some of the content is a review, your 6-month access to the Facebook Community is incredibly valuable. I will be there to answer questions about topics inside and outside the course. Also, my Monthly Group Conversation Sessions are an added bonus to help you improve your speaking ability.

As you can see, I think there are a lot of things that need to factor into your decision. But, at the end of the day, only you can decide if it's the right fit for you.

I hear you (-: We all have a LOT going on in our lives, and the thought of adding one more thing to it makes the overwhelm feel all too real. But here’s the thing, you have to start somewhere. So much about feeling confident in Spanish is about making a lifestyle change to incorporate it into your daily life. And the ones who can find up to an hour a day to implement this stuff over our six weeks together are the ones who will see the most immediate improvement. Meaning, every minute you focus on building the fundamentals of your Spanish in this course, will have an exponential payoff. And in return, I promise to spare you from any wrong turns or unimplementable fluff.

Scenario #1: It’s Thursday afternoon, and you’re stuck in a Zoom meeting at work trying to make it to your 5:30 pm live Spanish class. You show up 15 minutes late the first day. The second week, you show up 30 minutes late feeling stressed because your boss had a last-minute question before you left work. You miss week 3 because you just had too much going on. And by week 4, you feel discouraged because you’re behind, so you stop attending class altogether.

Scenario #2: It’s Thursday afternoon, and even though you’ve had an insane week at work, you’ve carved out time on Saturday afternoon while the kids are at a friend’s birthday party to watch the first Spanish lesson and complete the assignments. The following week, you feel inspired to study Spanish during a long lunch on Tuesday and run through a few flashcard sets on your phone. Weeks 3 and 4 you feel a little lost but get direct feedback from the teacher and other students on the Facebook group.

You see, an asynchronous course design allows you to learn Spanish on your terms, not the other way around. No more missing class or having to message someone for notes. You have all the tools and resources at your disposal from Day 1.

I know, grammar sounds “blah” but, the reality is, you will never be able to communicate confidently in Spanish if you don’t learn some structure first to formulate your ideas. By just learning words and phrases, without the mechanics behind them, you essentially become a sort of “talking parrot.”

For example, what happens if you learn the question and response - “¿Cuál es tu trabajo?” - “Soy ingeniero.” (What is your job? - I'm an engineer.)

But, then someone asks you it in a different way, “¿En qué trabajas?” or “¿A qué te dedicas?”

You stand there with a blank stare because you’ve only memorized the question asked in one way.

The truth is, you could respond to any of those with - “soy ingeniero” - if you could break down the parts of the question in a mechanical way. (i.e., “In what do you work?” or “What do you dedicate yourself to?” …ah, ok, this person is asking what I do for work.)

You see, language is alive, it’s fluid, which is why you’ll never be successful learning Spanish in a robotic way, especially from apps.

Alas I focuses on building a solid foundation in Spanish with the mechanics to become conversational. But the conversation part doesn't happen overnight. You have to start off, in the beginning, with some passive skills - such as reading and writing - to build your confidence to speak.

Let me be the first to tell you that, in the linguist world, we refer to you as a beautifully unique heritage speaker. Being a “heritage speaker” means that you grew up around lots of Spanish - maybe from your parents or grandparents, visiting family in Mexico every year, etc. 

There is a wide range of abilities within the realm of Spanish heritage speakers. Some are pretty fluent in conversational Spanish but struggle to communicate with relatives in other parts of the world because they speak more “Spanglish” than a traditional Spanish. 

However, most Spanish heritage speakers have high listening comprehension skills but lack the structure and vocabulary to put together sentences and express themselves in the moment. They often feel very uncomfortable using Spanish at family gatherings because they have a lot of holes that need to be filled. 

If this is you, then you’re in the right place. Your past knowledge of hearing Spanish around you will definitely give you a leg-up to progress faster with pronunciation and vocabulary acquisition. However, you will still need to start over with learning the mechanics and structure of the language to build a solid foundation and feel confident in communicating. 

If you are still unsure of your level, take my ALAS 1 Level Assessment, and I'll email you back with my thoughts about your level and if ALAS 1 would be a good fit. 

Learning Spanish is just as much about feeling supported and encouraged as it is about learning conjugation tables and vocabulary, which is why you have lifetime access to a Community Forum within the Teachable Platform. That means that you will not only have encouragement from your peers but support from me every step of the way.

I feel ya. You’ve tried everything under the sun to learn Spanish, and nothing’s stuck. I do believe, however, that when you take a stab at learning Spanish, all exposure is good exposure. So any program that you’ve taken up until now has been a great stepping stone. However, there comes a point when a change is needed in order to advance yourself to the next level. I believe this is that change for you. The secret behind Alas I is that it’s based on how I actually learned Spanish as an adult. No gimmicks. No theories. No fluff. Just a step-by-step guide to the most important skills you need to feel confident in Spanish. These materials, alongside a Facebook group of peers and myself cheering you on along the way, is your perfect cocktail to success. We will hold you accountable this time.

First of all, after you complete Alas I, we’re going to CELEBRATE! Woohoo! After that, you will have the opportunity to continue on in the Alas series by enrolling in Alas II and, later, in Alas III. Each of these courses are 6 weeks long and are meant to build on each other.