SPANISH with an expert in applied NEUROSCIENCE · RTT Practitioner • More than 15 YEARS teaching • CAMBRIDGE Certf • Dual Teaching & Communication Degrees UK & Spain

Find out more about Alma Vanessa

• 1) Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  Spanish is my native language, yes — but I didn’t start teaching it “just because I speak it.”
  
  I learned how to teach languages after mastering a second one myself.
  
  I studied language education during my second degree, and got formally trained through the CELTA (Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Adults),
  
  but more importantly: I learned English the hard way — and that gave me a real understanding of how languages block us… and how to unblock them.
  
  That’s why I don’t teach from theory alone. I teach not just from experience, but from everything I’ve eagerly researched, tested and refined.
  
  From neuroscience. I’ve studied how the brain learns ,I teach from lived experience, from trial and error, from watching what actually works for real people.
  
  I’m also a restless learner — always chasing better ways to understand the brain.
  
  That’s why I trained as a Rapid Transformational Therapist® with Marisa Peer,
  
  to dive deeper into the subconscious patterns that stop us from expressing who we are — in any language.
  
  So no — I don’t just teach Spanish because I was born with it.
  
  I teach it because I know how the brain fights language…
  
  and how to help it fall in love with it again.

• 2) Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  Rosalía, without a doubt.
  
  Not just because she’s talented — but because of the way she embodies the Spanish personality in how she speaks, moves, reacts and connects.
  
  She’s expressive, spontaneous, playful, emotionally intense, quick to laugh, quick to get serious.
  She doesn’t over-explain, she feels her way through interviews. She speaks like someone who’s unapologetically present — and that’s very Spanish.
  
  She mixes high culture with slang.
  
  She represents a kind of modern Spanish identity: creative, global, rooted, expressive, proudly contradictory.
  
  Because to learn Spanish, you don’t just need words — you need attitude.
  And Rosalía? She’s the attitude, the rhythm, and the unapologetic honesty that Spanish carries at its core.

• 3) Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behavior in the language that you particularly like?

  Absolutely — Spanish is full of everyday expressions that are pure gold.
  
  What I love most?
  That in Spain, you never just say something. You perform it.
  The emotion goes in the voice, the hands, the eyebrows… and of course, the words.
  
  Here are some of my favourites — I use them often in class to help my students sound actually Spanish:
  
  → “Me muero.”
  Literal: I’m dying.
  Real meaning: This is SO good / SO funny / SO shocking I can't handle it.
  We die constantly in this language. For anything.
  
  → “¡Qué fuerte!”
  
  Literal: How strong!
  Real meaning: Whaaat? That’s wild / unbelievable / dramatic.
  Used for gossip, news, trauma, TV shows… basically everything.
  
  → “Más chulo que un ocho.”
  Means someone’s full of themselves — in a funny, cocky way.
  And yes, no one really knows where the 8 comes from.
  
  → “Está como una cabra.”
  Literal: He’s like a goat.
  Meaning: He’s nuts. Lovably unhinged.
  An affectionate insult, basically.
  
  I love these expressions because they teach culture, personality, and rhythm all in one go.
  When students learn them, something clicks.
  They stop translating.
  They start feeling Spanish.
  
  And when that happens, the grammar finally makes sense — because now it has a voice.

• 4) Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  Because Spanish is a global passport — not just for travel, but for connection.
  It opens doors to more than 20 countries, to stories, friendships, songs, ideas, and perspectives you can’t access any other way.
  
  And more than that — speaking Spanish helps you connect with yourself.
  It’s a language that invites you to feel. To express. To show up fully.
  
  Because Spanish gives you something most languages don’t:
  permission to feel. Out loud. With volume. With presence.
  
  
  You explain. You interrupt. You gesture. You add ¿sabes?” to wrap someone in your words.
  
  That’s what I want for my students:
  
  Not just to speak it, but to inhabit it.
  To use it like Rosalía uses her voice — without fear, with presence, and with soul.

• 5) What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  The biggest obstacle isn’t grammar.
  It’s feeling dumb.
  
  Judged. Frozen.
  
  When there’s fear, the brain shuts down. No matter how good the textbook is.
  
  What helps?
  Safety. Curiosity. Movement. Laughter. Emotional permission.
  Understanding how your brain works — and creating the kind of space where you can mess up, try again, and actually enjoy the process.

• 6) Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  Once, a student, laughing after class, asked me:
  
  “What other subjects do you teach? Because I’ve never had so much fun learning anything.”
  
  And honestly? That moved me.
  
  Not because it was a compliment — (which I liked..) but because it confirmed something deeper:
  That the way I teach actually works.
  That you can learn a language, go deep, challenge yourself…
  and enjoy the process like crazy.
  
  That’s the magic I aim for in every session:
  lightness + depth.
  science + emotion.
  real results, but without the pain.
  
  If learning doesn’t feel alive… it doesn’t stick.
  So I make sure it does.

• 7) How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  Moving to London changed everything.
  
  I had studied English for years — passed all the exams, knew the grammar, the vocab, the textbook dialogues.
  But then I got there… and couldn’t understand what people were saying at the pub.
  
  Suddenly, it wasn’t about language. It was about life:
  the slang, the speed, the jokes, the way people actually speak when they’re not being recorded for a textbook.
  
  I realized that knowing a language and using it in real life are two different skills.
  
  Now I know exactly what my own students go through.
  
  And I know I want to teach in a way that prepares people for real conversations, not just exams.
  
  That move didn’t just improve my English.
  It changed the way I teach Spanish.

• 8) What makes you a Superprof in language?

  Because I don’t just teach Spanish.
  I unlock it.
  
  Yes, I’m trained. I’ve got over 15 years of experience.
  But what really matters is this:
  I work with the language and with what blocks it.
  
  I’ve never stopped learning — neuroscience, movement-based learning, subconscious reprogramming…
  All to make sure you don’t just “study” Spanish.
  You integrate it.
  You feel it.
  You use it.
  
  With me, Spanish isn’t just something you memorize.
  It becomes yours.