Destined to teach languages?
In Copenhagen 2009, I ended my career in the jewelry industry and moved with my 10-year-old son to Spain to live with my boyfriend.
Ever since my son was born, I spoke English to him even that we lived in Denmark. It gave him self-confidence being able to communicate with other children in English outside of Denmark. Knowing Danish and English from an early age, he had the ability to learn Catalan, Spanish, and French quickly. It was such a joy to watch him being able to fluently use all five languages by the age of eleven. What a gift!
It was not easy to find a job with suitable working hours that could fit into a life as a mother, and I was just learning Catalan, so the language was an obstacle. My attitude has always been “If there is no job to find – you have to invent your own job”.
"A teaching method based on creativity"
I noticed that the children in the Spanish village had incredibly poor English skills and the Spanish teaching method was based on memorizing. With years of experience working with children in Denmark and abroad, being a parent, and with some studies in psychology with focus on human growth and development, I decided to make private English classes for children. The teaching method should be based on creativity that would motivate the children, and each class should include only a few students, allowing the students to have time to speak and develop their self-confidence by using the language.
With my “Supermarket Spanish” I placed an ad in the local newspaper, and it turned out to be a very good idea. In a short time, I taught many small groups during the week and the teaching method quickly showed results. The years passed by, and we moved closer to Barcelona. I got a full-time job, and I managed to get new students in the new neighborhood, so I kept teaching as a hobby. Seeing the children’s excitement when they improved their language skills was worth the hard work!
Covid changed it all
In March 2020, most of Europe closed and the students were not able to attend class in person. Working from home was suddenly normal for many people and it gave me the opportunity to teach online and have students worldwide. Something I had dreamt of for years was now a reality!
I worked around the clock to prepare online material. To find new students worldwide I made a video showing my teaching method and offered online English to children and adults. A Danish parent wanted her children to learn Danish with the same teaching method as shown in the video, so Danish became a reality and it grew very rapidly. Today we are five teachers (still growing) located in three different continents to cover the different time zones, teaching both English and Danish.
