I have remained good friends with Yaira, my Spanish teacher, and I thank her every day for my ability to communicate in my adopted country. “English is widely spoken in Panama”? No, outside of areas known for expats, this isn’t true. You could get by, but I find it frustrating and hard to get things done when I can’t understand and communicate. Even more important to me is the chance to have relationships and friendships with Panamanians. This makes my life here interesting and happy on a daily basis.
I know it’s hard and takes time. It took me forever to learn enough for basic communication, and when I arrived I still couldn’t understand a lot of what was said to me. Over time though it has gotten better and I can carry on conversations on most topics. And, all that learning is supposed to be good for the brain.
Yaira has been going to university and teaching privately over Skype, while tending to her family and little boy. Now that she is finished with university (except a thesis and special projects), she has a bit more time to teach. She told me she could manage one or two new students so I’m putting the word out that there’s an opportunity at the moment. If you know someone who would like this as a Christmas present, or it’s one of your New Years Resolutions, here you go.
Her website is http://yairatutoria.com/
She really is an excellent teachers with years of experience, and she has so much kindness and patience for even the most frustrated student (speaking from personal experience 😁! ) I found it really helpful to have a teacher expecting my homework the next day so I wouldn’t procrastinate, and I made much better progress with Yaira than in any other class or learning method I tried.
Gracias Yaira todo los días por enseñarme español. Cambiaste mi vida aquí.
If you don’t understand that, contact her. No fair using Google translate!
The Panama Adventure 
Es necessario aprender la idioma del pais donde vive!
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Si, es verdad. Tu sabes eso!
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After seeing you mention Yaira a while back I finally started classes with her in August. She’s amazing! So patient, kind, funny and smart. I have a long ways to go but will keep at it with such a wonderful teacher.
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That’s wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that you are studying with her and getting along so well 🙂
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BTW, Yaira says you have learned a lot and are doing really well 🙂
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¡Kris! Tienes toda la razón. Cuando hablo con un Panameño, me pregunta si soy Español, por mi accento puro de Madrid. No, soy Holandés. He trabajado trece años en España. Entonces se ha roto el hielo.
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Español de Madrid es diferente pero podemos entender. Creo que español es un buen idioma porqué podemos comunicar en muchos países.
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Kris, I just signed my family up for classes with Yaira. She said it would be ok to pay with your paypal. Are you ok with that? It will sure make it a lot easier on me, but I just wanted to confirm with you that it was alright.
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Yes, absolutely 🙂 Paypal doesn’t work with Panamanian banks so we use this work around sometimes. We live fairly close so I’ll see that the money gets to her. Enjoy your classes!
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