Italian
Elisabetta Mazzantini
e.mazzantini1@gmail.com 505-577-1014
Italian Native Speaker
Elisabetta Mazzantini is an Italian native from Rome. She is a linguist, who has taught Italian as a foreign language since she moved to Santa Fe in 2000, initially at the Santa Fe Community College, and then to many groups, both at the Travel Bug and on Zoom, as well as to numerous private students. She has also worked as a freelance English-Italian translator and interpreter for over 30 years.
Review
"Elisabetta Mazzantini-Clark's Italian classes are a pure joy. A highly educated woman, she is quick and very able to answer any question regarding Italian word usage, meaning, and etymology. Encouraging and patient, she opens each class session with time for students to ask questions about the Pimsleur CD recordings read for the session or for any general or specific questions the students may have about the Italian language. Students feel relaxed in her class and through her encouragement and guidance quickly find themselves conducting conversations In Italian with each other. Through her own efforts, she has prepared written transcripts of the CDs and sends these to the students after each class session which is a helpful way of reinforcing what was previously practiced in class. She also sends students typed notes of words and/or phrases discussed in each class session, another reinforcement. Her pleasant and cheerful manner has set a climate for eagerness to learn one of the worlds most beautiful languages." ~student
Classes Info
All classes are CONVERSATIONAL and open to everyone. Groups are small (minimum 4, maximum 8 students) and the focus is on learning to speak and comprehend.
Classes will meet for 6 weeks at the Travel Bug for 1 hour and 15 minutes each time.
A “Pimsleur” subscription will be required (https://www.pimsleur.com/). The recorded ½ hour audio lessons will provide the core of the material the classes are based on. A non-verbatim transcript of each ½ hour lesson will be sent as a reference and reinforcement of the audio files. Your assignment each week will be to have listened to and feel reasonably comfortable with two of the recorded lessons prior to each class meeting.
We have taught using the Pimsleur Language Program for years and are confident that it is one of the most effective recorded language programs. There are 150 half-hour lessons in all, that we divide into 10-lesson series (5 weeks). After 5 classes there will be one additional Review class in which we’ll review all the material studied during the previous classes, for a total of a 6-week cycle.
Cost: $180 + 12.60 tax= $192.60 – To secure a spot in class, payment should be received at least one week prior to the first class. Payment by check, cash or Paypal.
Class Levels offered:
Beginners (A1 through A3)
Beginner/Intermediate (B4 through B6)
Intermediate (C7 through C9)
Intermediate-Advanced (D10 through D12)
Advanced (E13 through E15).
To determine your level, please contact Elisabetta, she will help you assess which class will be the best fit for you. Other non-Pimsleur-based classes also offered. Please inquire.
Spanish
Clara Evans
clrevans@gmail.com 505-310-3443
Hailing from Veracruz, Mexico, Clara Evans’s first language is Spanish. She is highly bilingual, bi-literate and bicultural. Clara has earned a B.A. in Applied Linguistics and an M.A. in Education. In her professional life, Clara was both a teacher and an administrator. The students she served in Europe and the U.S. ranged from elementary age to adulthood. We are proud to have Clara join our team..
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The class will use Mango Language. Mango is a subscription service costing $7.95 per month. A free trial is available on their website www.mangolanguage.com
Basic Conversational Spanish is a highly interactive class where you learn how to start and carry a conversation using casual greetings, idiomatic expressions, and cultural elements. The class focuses on listening, vocabulary development, pronunciation, speaking and building your confidence in using Spanish in real-life situations.
French and Spanish
Robert Jessen
arjessen@icloud.com 505-501-0713
Growing up visiting family in Spain and France, Robert wanted to learn both languages. Robert studied Spanish at the University of Santander as a high school student, and in Salamanca while at Dartmouth College. At Dartmouth Robert earned one of the prestigious drill-instructor positions and taught Dartmouth students Spanish while learning French through the same Rassias method. (https://rassias.dartmouth.edu/method/)
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Classes stress the ability to speak AND the skill of listening. However, listening they include seeing, since 90% (or more!) comprehension comes from body language and tone. And if we have to understand by observing, using our eyes, then when we communicate, we have to move, using our bodies.
For that reason, the in-class actives will follow the lessons from the Memrise app, which allows you to observe the speakers, who are native and speak in local accents. They come from all walks of life and from all over the world where those languages are spoken. There is a cost for the Memrise subscription, but it is less than $5.00 per month, and I think you will enjoy it.
Language Classes meet in our store at various times. Please sign up for our mailing list to be informed of the next classes.
You may contact the teachers directly with your questions