With one-on-one virtual classes, your teacher is able to meet you wherever you are and to go at your own chosen pace. Our teachers are creative and attentive, and their main goal is to see you inspired. From day one, your teacher will naturally pick up on your strengths, interests and concerns to create a curriculum that is unique to you. Meanwhile, the virtual classroom is built for fluid communication and efficiency. A shared Google Doc acts as the whiteboard, where class notes and homework are stored for reference and review. As for study materials, physical textbooks are combined with an interactive online platform to create a dynamic study environment. 

Every custom curriculum is built with three core components:

Visual Storytelling

At the heart of our beginner curriculum is a method unique to California Bilingüe, called Historias Visuales. Students are given a brief story to read in Spanish and are then taught to retell this story using visual cues. These original stories are engaging and realistic, and aim to expose students to the most common words and phrases they can apply immediately to daily life. With this method, students learn to rely on instinct and to express themselves simply and organically before wading into the mechanics of Spanish grammar.

Grammar Study

Once students are able to recount simple stories with ease, we begin breaking down familiar sentences and looking at the how and the why of each piece, allowing students to be led by their natural curiosity into the world of verbs and conjunctions. We use a modern, college-level textbook that offers an interactive digital platform for homework and study. The one-on-one nature of class allows teachers to go at each student’s individual pace, while using creative tools to make the lessons fresh and dynamic. 

Real-Life Resources

This immersive part of our program is where the magic happens. Our teachers curate media from the real world; podcasts, movies, music, television and news, that match students’ unique interests and skill level, exposing them to culture and current events while also training their ear to comprehend Spanish in a variety of contexts. More advanced students may additionally read fiction and poetry in class, and all will engage in class discussions carefully annotated by their teacher to mark progress. In addition, teachers are always on the lookout for ways to connect studies to each student’s daily life; by providing supplementary materials relevant to their interests, by training them to build glossaries and to practice for specific scenarios, and by helping them gain confidence to overcome any social and emotional barriers that may exist.