I struggled to help my students capture what inspired my love of languages - hearing the language spoken, using it in simple phrases learned in context, and learning about the wonderful Hispanic culture - and tapping into auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles to drive new learning home.

A couple of years later, while teaching in Utah, one workshop helped me identify and crystalize what I'd already begun to implement in my classroom - teaching to multiple learning styles while focusing on real communication.

It was then that I began to really learn to put these key principles together with the basic elements of Spanish. Building on the basics and remixing concepts and vocabulary, I forged ways to make practice fun.

This was the genesis of our Authentic Lingo method.