I’ve learned some Latin, German, French, and Pig Latin (yes, really!) in my life, but the need for Spanish language skills has grown tremendously in my community and profession in recent years.

I have the privilege of teaching in a high-needs Title 1 school, and I’ve been wanting to better support our students and their families. This desire led me to Chattanooga School of Language in the fall of 2019. I signed up for a True Beginner Spanish group class, but I ended up withdrawing.

I felt

d i s c o u r a g e d .

I truly wanted to learn; but I think, at that time, I was too stressed and doing it primarily for myself instead of for others.

To really start learning Spanish, I had to get to a point where learning was doable in the long-term, a priority, and purposeful. 

I came back to CSL in early 2021, starting with semi-private lessons with Janet. Since then, I’ve taken group classes with Liz and more private lessons with Janet. At the beginning of 2022, I became a proud CSL member! 

I feel

t h e   u p s   a n d   d o w n s

a lot in language learning.

I make tons of progress, and I feel great! Then some days, it feels incredibly hard again. But CSL is grounding for me.

One of the most common questions I get from people is: “Why are you spending your money at CSL instead of using an online platform like Duolingo, etc. It’s just as good, isn’t it?” 

I always tell them, “No, it’s not!”

The value of CSL is in having a teacher who gets to know you, works with you where you are, and provides holistic support that actually helps you reach your goals.

C S L   h e a r d   m e

and helped me find exactly what I need that I can immediately apply in my everyday life.

Now, when I’m at work, Spanish-speaking students who aren’t even in my class run up to me wanting to share something with me in Spanish. The relationships being built with these students will only grow and deepen as a result of the added connection of language. I’m even able to chat with Spanish-speaking parents during dismissal, as well as at school functions and events. This means the world to me.

Learning Spanish with CSL has given me new opportunities in other areas of my life too. I’ve been an avid kayaker for decades, and I’ve recently begun working with another kayak instructor who happens to be a native Spanish speaker. In the summer, we co-teach Intro to Kayaking classes for Spanish speakers in the Atlanta area, helping to bridge language barriers while training people in new kayaking safety skills.

My world is expanding more than I ever expected. I could not be happier!

I began my own French language learning journey a couple years later, spending 30 minutes a day learning independently with an auditory program I found online. I did this for about 5 years; but everything changed when my wife, kids and I traveled to France in 2019 for 6 weeks during my wife’s graduate program. Shortly after arriving in the country, I had a disappointing moment at a restaurant where I couldn’t understand the server at all, even after 5 years of personal study. 

This experience   

w o k e   m e   u p 

to the reality that if I wanted to grow in French proficiency in a sustainable way, I needed a community to learn with regularly and an expert guide.

I spoke with my mother-in-law, Janet, a language learning extraordinaire who connected me with her colleague Claire at Chattanooga School of Language. On the first day of my new French group class, Claire led us in a listening exercise that would help her determine our current abilities. After the exercise, I actually lied and said I understood about 60% of what I heard. In reality, I only understood about 25%!

I was   

e m b a r r a s s e d 

that I hadn’t made the progress I was hoping for, even after all of my years of independent study.

Since joining Claire’s class, my French comprehension has spiked considerably, and I feel more confident in the language than ever before. In February 2022, my family and I took another trip to France, and I was thrilled that I was able to comprehend almost every conversation I heard. Even though I still need a lot of work in my speaking skills, I know that I am in the right place to grow over time. 

Classes at CSL have made a big difference for me because I have a guide who is a native speaker and expert who has made improving in the language practical, scalable and realistic. 

Claire is the best teacher I have ever had…

f o r   a n y t h i n g .

CSL and its teachers are ready to go the long road with people, encouraging them in what is possible and actually helping them achieve their goals over time.

For me, connection with people is one of the most important and beneficial things about being a student at CSL. Interacting in French for 2 full hours every Monday night for almost 3 years with some of the same people has changed my life, and I am confident that the relationships I’ve made will last. 

I currently work at Hope for the Inner City, a nonprofit in Chattanooga. Big talks are happening right now about how we can bring unity in Chattanooga, especially after the pandemic.

Unity isn’t actually happening in most places in our city;
but I see it each week at CSL. 

CSL is a symbol of the kind of relationships that can actually be made in our community as people from different age groups, socioeconomic backgrounds and races come together to learn and build relationships across lines that typically divide us. 

His generation wasn’t encouraged to learn and speak Italian beyond some slang words and phrases, but he still cared about passing his culture on to his children (especially the food!). I decided to start learning Italian so I could get more in touch with my roots. I guess you could call me a heritage learner. 

When I was 23, I took a gap year and studied art in Florence, Italy. I wanted to go to the actual land that’s so deeply connected with the Italian language. I had a Japanese roommate while I was there, and I dated someone who didn’t speak English. The only common language was Italian, so I had lots of opportunities to practice. I fell in love with Italian culture, and I made lifelong friends while at the language school in Florence. It changed my life, and I realized that Italy was now “mine.” 

After acquiring more of the language, the doors were opened, and I

c o u l d   g o   a n y w h e r e

Italian could take me.

Since then, I’ve returned to Italy every chance I’ve had, including a year teaching English in Orvieto and Chattanooga’s sister city, Ascoli Piceno, in 2004. These experiences made me hungry to explore new places, languages and cultures. I started working for Delta Airlines in 2007 as a flight attendant, and during that time, I had plans to learn French, Spanish and Greek. Even though this didn’t  pan out like I hoped, I got to dabble in the languages, and I loved having layovers in places like Senegal where I could practice my French (which was my strongest of the three languages at the time). 

While I was still working for Delta, I heard about Chattanooga School of Language and started attending some Italian language socials when I was home.

COVID happened about a year after I left Delta, and it was a prime opportunity for me to start learning Spanish here in Chattanooga, a language I could actually use often in our community. 

I started with private lessons, and I’ve taken a few group classes since then. I’m currently taking semi-private lessons with Liz and loving every minute! I’m eager to truly acquire the language and use it in my life. 

CSL is

o p e n i n g   n e w   d o o r s

for me and so many other people to enter into new cultures and see the world in new ways.

I look forward to the point when I can use my Spanish skills to serve our community more. And of course, I can’t wait to immerse myself in the language while visiting new places all across the Spanish-speaking world!