By Sandra Zunino

Mastering a second language is more than learning new words. It requires reading, writing and conversation for effective communication. Liamar Young, founder of The Spanish Institute in Centerville helps her students achieve that goal.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Liamar learned English as a second language. Even though she participated in English classes from as early as Kindergarten, Liamar admits she had trouble her first year in the U.S. because she had not perfected fluent conversation skills.

“I understood everything in a text book and if it was written,” she says, “but when people were speaking to me, I could not understand them.” Liamar attributes the dilemma to Puerto Rican schools not focusing on English conversation.

Liamar noticed her executive students who relied on learning Spanish to perform their jobs had similar problems, thus inspiring her
“Total Physical Response” Spanish teaching techniques. While Liamar uses traditional teaching methods focusing on grammar and vocabulary, she also encourages heightened involvement to get students to converse and better comprehend Spanish. The result is an active class with puppet shows, crafts, games and other interactions.

From two-year-olds to adults, she pushes her students to visualize what they want to say and speak in Spanish until it becomes natural. With younger students, she spends a lot of time singing songs and encouraging laughter. “If I’m not having fun, they are not having fun,” she says. “If they are not having fun then I’m doing something wrong.”

Liamar has been utilizing her English-Spanish translation skills for 25 years from extensive international translations of brochures and presentations for the Spanish speaking population, training business executives in preparation for appearances in television programs such as MSNBC and interviews in publications such as the Wall Street Journal to translating and interpreting Spanish for the Queen Anne’s County Health Department.  She has received many awards and recognitions for her work locally and abroad.

Currently, Liamar teaches Spanish at Chesapeake College and at the Queen Anne’s County Arts Council. She offers private tutoring at her home as well as home school tutoring for middle and high school levels.

Liamar stresses that students must practice speaking Spanish at least an hour a day. For her school-age students, she encourages parent participation. “It’s important for the parent to continually interact through the week,” she says.

Students approach Liamar with a many goals. Adults often want to better connect with the growing Hispanic population and increase job marketability. Often parents enroll young children in classes because learning a second language helps develop brain activity. Emphasizing the importance of molding her curriculum to fit her students’ needs, this year Liamar plans to modify her high-school students’ lessons to meet their career objectives.

Liamar also stresses the diversity in Hispanic dialects and cultures in her lessons. “It is very easy to offend someone if you don’t understand who you are speaking to,” she says.

Liamar says she is very proud of her students and grateful for the opportunity to enhance their lives through her teachings. “I would like to thank all the parents for their support, love and faith in me as well as God for giving me the vision, resources and the strength to be able to succeed in this wonderful endeavor,” she says. “Gracias a todos.”