If Spanish feels like something you keep meaning to get back to...

You're not alone. And you’re not behind.

You're ready to set up a consistent, sustainable Spanish practice. You just need it to feel different this time. Accessible, not daunting. Sustainable, not too time-consuming. And it definitely needs to be fun!

Welcome to the Spanish on the Patio membership for beginners! A weekly Spanish practice space for busy adults who want to actually use the language in fun, relevant ways by engaging in a supportive community without loads of homework or fear of falling behind.

In this membership you will go from feeling tongue-tied and frustrated with your Spanish to feeling confident and comfortable conversing in Spanish.

If you’re like many of my students, you’ve wanted to study Spanish forever and have had many false starts, getting quickly overwhelmed with homework or the difficulty of applying grammar and vocabulary into real conversation.

Or maybe you’ve studied enough Spanish in the past that you can read short texts and understand simple questions from native speakers when you are traveling. 

But when you need to speak at length, you get stuck. No matter how much vocabulary you memorize or how much time you practice grammar online, pulling it all together in real time is stressful and feels awkward. 

Everything feels harder out in the open water of spontaneous conversation. Grammar rules swirl in your head, you feel like all the words are on the tip of your tongue and yet … you still can’t speak.  

Great news! It’s not you! And there is a solution that does not involve more online apps. 

This frustrating stage is completely normal. Too often, when adult language learners hit this plateau, they declare that they are bad at learning languages and give up.

Here’s the truth

Receptive skills (reading and listening) develop before productive skills (writing and speaking) in the language acquisition process. This is the stage where you need a structured method for improving your oral and written expression. 

You need a guided practice where you get opportunities to review the basics and fill in any remaining gaps. You need this to happen in small doses so you can fit it into your busy schedule and you don’t get behind. 

You need a supportive community where you can practice what you’re learning in authentic, spontaneous but simple conversations to build confidence and solidify your skills.

You need an expert – a seasoned teacher – who can provide that structure, guide the practice and give gentle corrections when necessary.

AND you need this new practice to be ongoing so you keep your momentum up and your progress gets locked in.  

This is exactly what we’ll do in the Spanish on the Patio Membership for Beginners. 

We’ll gather for live practice that emphasizes consistency over intensity and connection over correctness. You'll learn vocabulary and grammar hacks with mini-lessons in real world scenarios. You'll hear the same words and structures multiple times in different scenarios. You’ll practice in contexts that are relevant to your life. You'll get comfortable making mistakes and they will stop paralyzing your ability to converse. You will learn what to do when you get stuck and you will build momentum and confidence. AND you will do all this in a fun and supportive community!

Here’s how it will work each week:

• You’ll receive a 5 minute video lesson and a short practice sheet to check your understanding. 

• You’ll receive a prompt to post a short written or video message on our private forum on our membership platform (this is not on Facebook). You can post just once or as often as you like. The more you engage in Spanish with your fellow members the quicker your progress! 

• You’ll have the opportunity to practice Spanish on Zoom either with other community members in our conversation hours or with me in my office hours. In addition we will host occasional conversation hours featuring native speakers from different countries so you can get used to different accents.

In addition, 

• Each month: You'll receive a Spanish journal with optional daily practice activities to keep Spanish front of mind — writing prompts, songs tied to what we're studying, short sayings, jokes, riddles, and puzzles. A little variety goes a long way toward building a daily habit.. 

• For the duration of your membership: You’ll automatically be eligible for deep discounts in tuition for any other courses offered by Spanish on the Patio, such as mini courses on SER vs. ESTAR, Introduction to the Subjunctive, Past Tense Narration, Movie of the Month Club, to name a few.

The goal is not to become fluent in 90 days or six months. The goal is to become conversant. You will gain confidence and feel comfortable speaking. You’ll feel enjoyment rather than frustration. You will finally experience real progress.  

You show up weekly. You practice. You feel a little more comfortable each time. That's it. 

You're joining at the beginning

This is the founding member launch. That means you're not just joining a membership. You're part of shaping what this becomes.

Founding members get:

• Locked-in pricing at $39/month (future members will pay $70/month)

• Closer access to Cynthia as the community grows

• The chance to influence what we practice and explore together

• A place in a small, intentional group that's starting from the same place

This is not about urgency or scarcity. This is about being part of something at the moment when it's most personal, most flexible, and most connected.