In the news, social media tends to be stigmatized as an addictive, brainwashing and vain place on the internet that wastes people's time. The amount of articles expounding on the negative effects of social media juxtaposed to the positive ones are enormous. However in my personal use social media has been a great and useful tool. I have gotten the opportunity to come into contact with a lot of interesting people through Facebook, Instagram, Periscope and other platforms. Fortunately, through a language learning group on Facebook called, English with GiamoJC in the 305, I found Vero. She is a beautiful young woman who makes incredible Youtube videos that help people learn Spanish or English.
Thank you so much for doing this interview. Can you explain your background a little bit. Like where are you from? Where did you study?
I´m from Spain. I was raised in Madrid and I currently still live there, but not in the city center. I live in a little city named Villaviciosa de Odon on the outskirts of Madrid, away from the city’s stressful lifestyle and heavy pollution. When I was a teenager I hated my city I considered it as a remote place in the middle of nowhere, that perception changed when I got older and now I think it is the perfect place to live.
I studied law at a university in Madrid and got my degree in 2009. I work as a lawyer too but being a lawyer is less fun and more stressful than Ally Mcbeal, a TV show about a young female attorney.
How did you get your start in teaching Spanish/English as a second language?
Well, I needed some time off in 2014 so I decided to move out to Sydney, Australia, to learn English. I knew a little bit of English from what I studied at school, but when you don´t use a language you lose it.
Studying and working for a year in Australia boosted my English to a higher level. I met people from all over the globe and many of them were interested in learning Spanish and told me many times to teach them. So I could say firstly I was an English student and then I became a Spanish/English teacher out of the blue.
What motivated you to start teaching on Youtube?
It was the consequence of insomnia. One night I couldn’t sleep and grew tired of rolling over the bed. So for two hours I took my phone and started watching videos on youtube when suddenly a weird thought came into my mind, “I could use youtube to teach Spanish to my foreign friends!” The good thing about Youtube is people from all over the world have access to it for free which is a great tool if you don´t have enough income.
It was the consequence of insomnia. One night I couldn’t sleep and grew tired of rolling over the bed. So for two hours I took my phone and started watching videos on youtube when suddenly a weird thought came into my mind, “I could use youtube to teach Spanish to my foreign friends!” The good thing about Youtube is people from all over the world have access to it for free which is a great tool if you don´t have enough income.
How many languages do you speak? What's the best way to study a language?
Right now I’m bilingual, I only speak Spanish and English and I know some of the basics of French. I think the key to learning a second language is having a good attitude, persevering in the learning process and studying as much as your brain allows you. Also having fun while learning is very important so you can use all the information in real life.
That´s what I did when I learned English. In the morning I went to school and during the evening I worked as a waitress which helped me to put into practice all my knowledge. In class we learn a lot of grammar and vocabulary, but then when you travel abroad you find out you are not able to either understand or speak the language. This is why it’s so important to use what you learn in the classroom in real life situations.
Which city is your favorite to visit in Spain and why?
As I said I´m from Madrid and we have an expression here which says, “from Madrid to heaven”. So everyone should visit Madrid once in a lifetime because it´s a city with a lot of history, amazing monuments and is very multicultural with open minded citizens. But apart from Madrid, Toledo is an incredible medieval city and is the perfect place to escape from the rest of the world.
As I said I´m from Madrid and we have an expression here which says, “from Madrid to heaven”. So everyone should visit Madrid once in a lifetime because it´s a city with a lot of history, amazing monuments and is very multicultural with open minded citizens. But apart from Madrid, Toledo is an incredible medieval city and is the perfect place to escape from the rest of the world.
What are some characteristics of the Spanish culture that you like the most?
First of all I like our sense of humor, Spanish people are always kidding and joking which was one of the things I missed a lot while living abroad because most of the time I was kidding and laughing by myself because nobody understood me.
First of all I like our sense of humor, Spanish people are always kidding and joking which was one of the things I missed a lot while living abroad because most of the time I was kidding and laughing by myself because nobody understood me.
The second thing is the gastronomy. Spain has a huge variety of delicious dishes ( paella, gazpacho, callos, fabada, potato omellete..) so you don´t get bored at lunch time .
And the last one is our way of living, we don´t live to work, we work to live and enjoy our free time traveling, meeting up with friends and basically having fun.
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