Madelene Etter

I started my teaching career at Carroll College in Helena, Montana, my alma mater. I later founded a language school in Kalispell, Montana teaching children, adults, and homeschoolers in a small-group setting. I now teach on Zoom, write short stories for Spanish students, and develop teaching materials for my students and other teachers.

Easy-to-read stories and materials with images are my first choice for beginning students. I focus on using high-frequency words in a story context and reinforce them with pictures and story retelling. Several years ago I discovered the book A Frequency Dictionary of Spanish by Mark Davies and it revolutionized my teaching strategy to include more high-frequency words in my lessons. It helped my beginning students communicate faster after learning those frequent words.

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I hold a bachelor's in Spanish from Carroll College in Helena, MT.

I came from my native country of Cuba at age seven not knowing a word of English. I remember feeling a little scared when the teacher would ask me something and I couldn't respond although I kind of understood what she was saying. I felt very frustrated! In this total immersion environment, it didn't take long to acquire English. I became the translator for my grandmother whenever we went out shopping. That experience makes me empathize with struggling students and makes me love teaching Spanish!