Celebrating Being Best Friends After Meeting at the Warren Hardy School

Marly Swick and best friend Anne Kresl James sharing a moment after class in July 2018 

"I came to San Miguel first for the writer's conference to teach a workshop in 2013 and my second day in San Miguel I came to my first class at the Warren Hardy School - Level 1 - then I bought a house on the way out of town after six weeks. I was still teaching as a writer and professor of creative writing at University of Missouri. After I retired two years later I could live in San Miguel full time. Over these years I've taken about five classes at Warren Hardy. What happens is that I'll take one and then some time go by and then I forget what I learned in that one and so I have to repeat it, and so my advice is to keep going and not let these gaps occur. So now I'm taking the Story Telling class with Rocio with my best friend Ann whom I met here at Warren Hardy School. Many many people here make best friends."   - Marly Swick

"I came to San Miguel four years ago for a month, and the first thing that I did was sign up for a class here at Warren Hardy with my daughter. In that class I met my best friend, had a lot of fun, and learned the basics. Warren and Tuli were extremely gracious and helpful with answering questions and sharing information, not only about learning Spanish but also about San Miguel and Mexico in general.

Six months later I moved here permanently, and started studying Spanish again. Warren has designed a program that makes learning Spanish fun. Since then I have taken seven classes, some of them repeats due to the fact that I travel a lot in between classes and don't practice enough. It always feels like home when I walk in the door. The teachers are excellent and everyone at the school is very friendly. My favorite class is storytelling with Rocio, so over a year later I am taking it again. The difference now is that I am going to stop traveling so much, enjoy more time in Mexico, and I have a real desire to learn to speak Spanish. Rocio is an amazing teacher, and Warren's method is very practical and effective. I can finally say that I am determined to learn Spanish, and I'm not leaving Mexico until I do!"

- Anne Kresl James

Alumni Story Updated: Spanish Training Helps with Immigration Crisis at Border

This is a licensed stock photo for purposes of this blog. It is not one of the families mentioned in Flora's letters. 
Flora, an alumni and former student of Warren Hardy
Spanish sent us a letter in July and followed
up in August 2018. We just updated this
blog post with her recent letter.



















July 26 2018 


"We have received a wonderful testimonial recently from a woman that is working with immigrants at the border. She talks about having taken Level 2 Spanish and how she is able to speak with these people and how much it means to her. Photos are not allowed at her location, so we are using a stock photo for this blog post."- Warren Hardy

"Dear Warren and Tuli,

I wanted to write to thank you with all my heart for excellent foundation and language skills I learned over the years at your school.

I am sure you are aware of the detained and separated families at the border. Several hospitality shelters here in the border area are receiving families released by ICE.  Last week I volunteered at a Lutheran Church in Las Cruces that had received families from Honduras.  They had arrived the night before and were on their way to family members in the U.S. who had bought bus or plane tickets for them.  Each adult had an ankle bracelet monitor.  I was given the job of going over the exit list with each adult making sure each had what he/she/the family needed for the journey: a watch, clean clothes, diapers for baby, a shower before leaving, light jacket for the plane, filled water bottle, backpack, lunches, and most important "Los Papeles" for the authorities. 

I used my Spanish all day; thanks to you I was able to converse with the refugees and their children. The only other Spanish speaker on site was the director of the border corps who was making the travel reservations for them.  The other volunteers were kind and attentive to all, but they couldn't converse or answer questions.

I can't emphasize enough or thank you enough for my Spanish skills.  I learned so much about the journey that the group of twelve made over 15 days by foot, hitchhiking, and train to reach the Juarez/El Paso entry where they were immediately put into detention. Thank goodness they were not separated.  

 I return on Wednesday when another group arrives; it will be a group that has been separated. They will be newly reunited next Tuesday evening, so the situation will be entirely different and surely more traumatic.

I never thought when I was faced with "The Great Wall of Spanish" (level 2) that I would ever be able to master the preterite or converse in anything other than present tense, that I would be able to use the language for such a meaningful endeavor.  

Warren, you once said that eventually we would develop our Spanish personality.  I know I will use mine with the work I am doing at the shelter.

My gratitude goes out to you for being a master teacher, for offering the best curriculum ever, and for giving me the gift of Spanish.

¡Gracias por todo!"
Flora

Update - August 2018
Bienvenidos

I arrived at the Lutheran Church the morning after refugees from El Salvador and Honduras had been released from the detention center. The sign across the door read “Bienvenidos.”  They had slept on air mattresses, been given dinner and breakfast, clean clothes, and new shoes.
 Now they were preparing for their departure to various cities where they had family or friends who had purchased tickets for travel.   Each adult was wearing an ankle bracelet monitor and had to make sure it was charged.
My conversational Spanish skills enabled me to take on the job of going over an itemized departure list to make sure each person or family was completely ready one hour before leaving the center.  The list included questions and instructions such as:
¿Ha desinflado usted su colchón? /Have you deflated your air mattress? 
¿Hay agua suficiente en su botella para el viaje?/Is there water in your bottle for the trip?
¿Necesita una chaqueta ligera?/Do you need a light jacket?
Puede llevar este reloj durante el viaje/You can wear this watch during  the journey.
¿Necesita usted los pañales para el bebé?/Do you need diapers for the baby?
¿Tiene usted sus papeles?/Do you have your papers (forms from immigration)?

Later we chatted in Spanish, and they told me stories of the arduous journey north.   Carmen said it took her group from El Salvador twenty days to reach El Paso. Back there her teenage son had been pressured to join a gang. Fleeing violence in Honduras, Luis told me their journey to the U.S. border took fifteen days of walking, hitchhiking, and riding the trains. They all said it was too dangerous to stay.


All day I said good bye to each family in turn: mothers, fathers, and children.  They hugged us with much emotion, saying “Muchas gracias. Gracias por todos. Ustedes son muy amables.”  I replied, “Estaré pensando en ti.” They had a long hopeful journey ahead.  In ten days each would have to report to an immigration official to request asylum.  ¡Que le vaya bien! 

Level 2 Spanish Language Grads

"These folks just crossed the great wall of Spanish. Congratulations to all!"
- Warren Hardy 
July 2018 Graduates - Level 2 Spanish Class - Warren Hardy Spanish School - San Miguel de Allende
Online Study - Video - Web Tutor Video Course
Power Verbs is the Ultimate Spanish course because it quickly and painlessly teaches you all you need to know to get around in Spanish.
It is based on the brilliant concept of combining a Power verb form like: I need to the infinitive of another verb.  Ie. I need to speak. I need to buy. I need to use.  This simple formula of: Power Verb + the infinitive of another verb + a noun + a time frame, will empower you to say hundreds of sentences to confidently express your needs and wants in Spanish
Can't take a local class in San Miguel de Allende? Need to study at home? Check out our WebTutor Video Courses.   WebTutor Video Course

Different Stories, Same Birthdays for Study Partners

John and Bret - Students and study partners in the Level 1 Power Verbs Class July 2018
In the Power Verbs Level 1 class at the Warren Hardy Spanish School in San Miguel de Allende, students form into two person teams to do exercises and learning games, usually for three minutes each. When one of them found out that the other had a birthday in July 2018, it was a mutual surprise. Their birthdays were on the same day!

" I just moved to San Miguel de Allende from New Jersey, and I started the Warren Hardy School a week ago. This is my second week and I'm learning a lot and enjoying working with my study partner here.Yesterday we found out in the morning that we had the same birthdays! I'm bringing some of my photography and journalism experience here to San Miguel and looking forward to a wonderful new life. " - John
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" I've been here in San Miguel for about a month and started taking Spanish classes here about two weeks ago. I moved down here for a job and primarily to work with U.S. and Canadian companies looking to relocate to Mexico so it's important for me to understand Spanish to work with my colleagues here in Mexico. It's also just as important for me to understand Mexico, the U.S. and Canada and the differences in the cultures so we can work better together. So I'm really like an ambassador for Mexico to Canadians and Americans as well as an ambassador for both of those countries to Mexico. This course is more than just the language. It's also about the people, the differences and similarities and how we can better connect with one another." - Bret Costain