Spanish teachers

During the past 20 years, low-cost technologies have challenged traditional means of communication by allowing people from around the globe to connect online and quickly exchange ideas and information.



For language schools, these technologies have provided a new opportunity to reach a growing number of students interested in acquiring a new language for professional reasons or to simply enrich their cultural and social lives.



Alan La Rue, a Canadian citizen with a background in international education and distance learning, saw the potential of using these technologies to connect Spanish teachers from Lima, Peru, where he had been living since 1995, to students in North America, Europe and Asia.



In 2005, La Rue founded Web Spanish, an online Spanish school that provides students with one-on-one classes by connecting them with qualified, native-Spanish speaking teachers. Today, the school has grown to have 100 students in 12 countries and provides instruction from the beginner to upper advanced levels.



"Students and teachers engage in live Spanish lessons using Internet telephony and a shared desktop application that allows the teachers to run the class as if they were standing in front of a blackboard", La Rue said.



The 50-minute classes are aimed at providing a flexible environment for students, catering to their level of Spanish as well as their personal and work schedules.



"Students comment on how convenient they find our online Spanish classes, since they don’t have to hop in their car and drive to the local community college to take a night course. This makes for a big savings of time and money," La Rue said.



Clare Lo, a Web Spanish student currently living in Singapore, agrees.



"The lessons move at a pace that the student is comfortable with," according to Lo, who began taking Spanish classes online in December 2009 mainly for personal and travel purposes. "The lessons are very structured. The teacher corrects any pronunciation and grammatical errors unlike in traditional classroom settings."



For other students, the online Spanish school has proved to be an important tool for their workplace. Susan McGill, a teacher at a public school in South Florida, has found the one-on-one Spanish classes have helped her better communicate with Hispanic students learning English at her middle school.



In addition, Web Spanish’s experienced teachers and curriculum has set it apart from other online Spanish programs, McGill said. "I would say this would be a model for other schools."



Running an online school, however, has had some challenges.



For teachers, one of the main obstacles is not being able to directly see the student and motivate them with body language, according to Deysi Alancoa, who currently teaches 12 students.



"Nevertheless, because you’re not in front of the student, your voice becomes your best tool," Alancoa said. "The tone of the voice is very important while telling a small story or when interacting in class. The results are gratifying because the students feel happy and satisfied with the classes."



For La Rue, the biggest challenge of Web Spanish has been finding students willing to risk spending $5 on an introductory class. "That said, over 80% of the students who take the introductory class sign up for more hours."



With the growing economic and social importance of Spanish outside of Latin America and Spain, Web Spanish is aiming to further diversify into new markets and grow its student base.



"In addition, we are constantly upgrading our materials and adding new multimedia resources," La Rue said. "It is just a matter of getting the word out that our online Spanish lessons are a viable alternative to traditional classes."