Once this course has began on January 11th, 2022 there are no refunds provided. In the event, you can no longer commit to the course due to verifiable health, familial or professional obligations please let us know and we will provide you with credit applicable to future courses or select Heart Travel trips.

If after participating in at least 50% of the course you’re truly not satisfied with your experience and results then we will discuss your case on an individual basis to process a refund and/or credit applicable to future courses, travel, or merchandise. Please note that you will have to demonstrate effort put into the course by showing up to calls and moving through the course content in Teachable and Quizlet and participating in the Discord Community Group.

The term “Castilian Spanish” can mean the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain, the standard form of Spanish, or Spanish from Spain in general. In short, Castilian Spanish is associated with Spain. Historically, many Spanish language learning programs have focused more on Castilian Spanish and there is often a degree of prestige associated with Castilian Spanish. However, and with no disrespect to Spain or Spaniards, but this feels antiquated and exclusively considering the amount of native Spanish speakers living in the Americas. Recognizing this lack of educational materials focusing on Latin American Spanish, our program seeks to reflect the linguistic diversity found throughout Latin America and prepare students for travel or relocation to Latin America. This means vocabulary and grammar structures used in class will be modeled after the Spanish spoken in Latin America and you will hear voices from Guatemala, México, Cuba, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. That being said, we will include vosotros in written materials and remind students of certain Castillian tips and tricks to be aware of.

It’s important to note that we will be teaching and using the pronoun “vos” (not to be confused with vosotros) in our lessons and we will also be mentioning the newer “inclusive language” that is becoming popular in many areas and incorporating it in some of our lessons and exercises.

We trust our students to be kind, mature, and thoughtful individuals and we believe in asking questions, freedom of expression, and even a little healthy debate. That being said, we do NOT tolerate hate speech or discrimination of any kind, bullying, profanity, explicit or pornographic content, the spreading of dangerous misinformation, self-promotion, or spam. If you post something that qualifies as any of the mentioned above it will be removed by the group admin and you will receive a warning in private. If you continue to violate these community guidelines you will be removed from the Discord community group and your commenting privileges on Teachable will be revoked.

Likewise, if a fellow student is making you uncomfortable please reach out to us right away so we can address the situation.

Slightly unpopular opinion - but grammar matters! I see so many learners looking for ways to dodge the inevitable and many programs catering to this trend. However, I truly believe that while grammar is NOT everything and does not need to be perfect to communicate effectively, you still need to learn the general structure of the language. Even as native English speakers we are taught grammar in elementary school making our spoken English not only “acquired” but also learned. What makes our program different in regards to this topic, however, is that we don’t teach grammar in a boring and overwhelming way. We give brief but thorough explanations and then provide you with ample opportunities to study this grammar point as much or as little as you’d like. You will then utilize your newfound grammar knowledge and skills in a variety of dynamic vocabulary, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and writing exercises.

Also, remember that learning Spanish is not the only thing that this program is about. We are also here to teach you about Latin American history, culture, and current events as well as responsible travel practices. Therefore, grammar does not represent a dominant majority of the content seen in this course but we will have 3 - 4 grammar classes (25 - 40 minutes long) per unit.

Maestra Chelsea here! This is such a great question and I’m even going to let you in on a little secret. I have put off promoting myself as a Spanish instructor for years for this very reason, despite having had numerous non-native Spanish-speaking professors while pursuing my MA. My insecurities about my Spanish were something I struggled with for a long time, however, over time I have come to embrace the ways in which not being a native speaker actually helps me to be a better teacher. What makes me different is that I truly understand and relate to my students’ struggles. This allows me to explain certain aspects of the language in ways that many native speakers cannot. That being said, I DO believe that exposure to native speakers is an important component of learning the language which is why I won’t be doing all of the talking. Maestra Chiva and Assistant Pamela are both native speakers who will be featured in the videos and voiceovers. Likewise, you will hear from other native speakers from all around Latin America to expose you to different accents, vocabulary, and cultural norms reflected in language. Therefore approximately 75% of the content in Spanish is coming from the mouths of native speakers, primarily from Guatemala, Cuba, México, and Ecuador.

Great question! Once you’ve purchased the course you’ll have lifetime access to the pre-recorded videos, PDF workbook, Quizlet exercises, and any extra content hosted on Teachable. Therefore you can study at your own pace and get started whenever you want once the course goes live in January 2022. However, starting January 11th, 2022 we will have 90-minute group calls once a week for 8 weeks which we HIGHLY recommend participating in or watching the replay. Likewise, you will have access to the Discord Community group for 3 months, starting on January 11th, 2022. In order to get the best results, we recommend dedicating 6 hours a week to your studies for the first 8 weeks as this course is designed for people who are truly passionate about learning Spanish and committed to doing what it takes to achieve results. Of course, everything is optional and you’re welcome to study and participate as much or as little as you’d like. At a bare minimum, we’d suggest having 3 hours to dedicate to your studies a week, even if it’s broken into shorter study sessions.

Yes! This course is a good fit for a variety of learners including total beginners as well as folks who studied Spanish at the high school or college level but who feel like they didn’t retain much. The truth is that many Spanish courses are somewhat dry and their main focus is getting you through the course. Here we truly want you to learn and apply your Spanish in real-life scenarios! We will start out with the basics so if you’ve never heard a Spanish word in your life that’s just fine. However, even if you’ve had some previous experience with Spanish this course may still be a good fit for you as review and practice truly make perfect. Plus, we aren’t just teaching your Spanish but this course is also loaded with history, culture, and travel tips that your previous Spanish courses likely didn’t include.