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The founder of Vivamos Spanish, Claudia Zurek, playing guitar for a classroom of children happily engaged in singing, and one child standing in front of the class acting out lyrics with a puppet.

Our Story

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Vivamos Spanish began at the heart of where our passion remains: with a teacher & her students in the classroom. Our founder, Claudia Zurek, is a native of Colombia & a veteran teacher with bachelor's degrees in Educational Leadership & Second Language Acquisition, & a master's degree in Education. Throughout her two decades of teaching bilingual education, Claudia realized that there was still a major need for a truly comprehensive elementary Spanish program...so she created one!  She developed this program thanks to daily inspiration from her students & real-life experiences in the classroom, & she is ecstatic to share Vivamos Spanish with educators & classrooms worldwide!

Story
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Our Approach

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Children sitting in a circle playing a game that utilizes Vivamos Spanish teaching flashcards, which are spread out across the floor in front of them.

Vivamos Spanish was built from an energetic passion that continues to thrive each day. We believe that learning a second language is one of the best ways to introduce young learners to diversity, inclusion, and cultural awareness that broadens students' horizons far beyond the native places they call home. Our program focuses on lively engagement to ensure that children enjoy themselves as they develop a deep & well-rounded foundation of familiarity & comfort with the Spanish language. Our curriculum correlates lessons with delightful activities that develop vocabulary, build upon grammatical concepts, & organically lead to fluent reading, writing, listening, & conversational skills.

Approach
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The logo symbol for E3: Education, Excellence, and Equity, which is an organization that increases students' achievements by applying their learned skills to navigate the world around them.
A map of E3's standards, which is an organization that increases students' achievements by applying their learned skills to navigate the world around them. This includes Critical Analysis, Innovation, Cross-Cultural Communication, Teamwork, and Adaptability, all of which Vivamos Spanish incorporates into its program.

Our Standards

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In addition to upholding the national ACTFL standards, 

Vivamos Spanish proudly champions the modern standards of E3, an organization that supports educators in embracing the diverse experiences of all students in order to achieve their full potential. E3's specialized tools move far beyond standardized test scores to increase student achievement by applying their learned skills to navigate the world around them. 

Standards

How do we incorporate E3?

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An animated girl sitting on a pile of books with various learning tool above her head to represent innovation

Learning español with Vivamos Spanish has taught me how to think outside of the box & how to be more creative! I use these skills during school projects & beyond!

Innovation

Learning about cultures different from my own has helped me to feel more comfortable exploring new places & making new friends!

Adaptability

A girl traveling in an airplane, which represents the skill of Adaptability that she developed while learning with the Vivamos Spanish program. This skill helps her to feel more comfortable exploring new places and meeting new people.
Two girls studying together, which represents the skill of Teamwork that they developed while learning with the Vivamos Spanish program. This skill helps them by combining their study methods and practicing Spanish conversations together.

Learning a new language with my classmates has given us the
opportunity to work together. We love combining our study methods & practicing conversations in español together!

Teamwork

Learning español with has helped me to realize that we all communicate differently. Now, when I interact with someone, I always think about how I can best communicate with them.

Cross-Cultural Communication

Three children having a conversation in Spanish, which represents the skill of Cross-Cultural Communication that they developed while learning with the Vivamos Spanish program. This skill helps them to understand that aside from speaking different languages, other cultures also have different ways of communicating that they are now more aware of.
A girl with a thought bubble above her head, which represents the skill of Critical Analysis that she developed while learning with the Vivamos Spanish program. This skill helps her to look at situations from different viewpoints before making a decision.

Learning a new language has helped me to make decisions more carefully. I look at situations from different viewpoints before being certain of my own opinion. I ask more questions to make sure I understand a situation so that I can make the best choice.
 

Critical Analysis

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Giving Back

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Vivamos Spanish proudly supports Asociación CREAR, a non-profit organization that provides free education & resources to youth in the rural community of Samara in Costa Rica. Children in these areas often only attend school in short increments & they're frequently left without adequate supervision for the remainder of the day. Asociación CREAR's programs utilize this free time by providing ample opportunities for personal, social, academic & career growth. 

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The logo for Asociación Crear
Children standing on the beach to demonstrate environmental & social consciousness through community projects

Making a Difference

Asociación CREAR aims to create & reinforce environmental & social consciousness in their students through community projects & educational lessons so that they may bring with them this awareness back to their communities.

Children standing in front of a mural to demonstrate creative & artistic expression

Learning Together

Asociación CREAR’s innovative programs focus on creative & artistic expression, English language development, socio-cultural responsibility, & women’s empowerment.

Children sitting at a picnic table smiling while engaging in an art project to demonstrate teamwork

Working Together

Asociación CREAR offers volunteer opportunities that cover a wide variety of projects such as teaching ESL, art, communications, digital arts, operations, finance, environmental conservation, public health, sports, science & more.

Children sitting in front of a chalkboard pointing to the Vivamos Spanish logo with a piece of chalk, welcoming the site visitor to contact Vivamos Spanish to learn more information about the program.
Vivamos Spanish logo with children jumping in the air exclaiming, "Spanish is fun!"

We'd love to share further info with you!

Interested in learning more about our program?

Thanks for inquiring! We'll be in touch soon!

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