Inspired by her travels to Antigua, Guatemala over the last three years, Cathy Mathwig designed and formulated SpeakSpanishLive.com. For three months, Cathy lived with a Guatemalan family while studying Spanish. Her personal experiences while there resulted in a deep passion and respect for the Guatemalan people, their culture and the Spanish language. Cathy is now fluent in speaking Spanish, and she left Guatemala with a genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of the language professionals and their families. It became her mission to provide them with additional income by developing a program capable of extending their teaching skills to students around the world who are unable to travel to Guatemala. Thus, SpeakSpanishLive.com came to fruition.
Antigua, Guatemala is recognized as one of the leading destinations in the world for learning Spanish. The natives speak a dialect considered one of the purest and easiest forms of Spanish in Latin America. Over the last two decades, Antigua has become a hub for learning Spanish. There are over 100 language schools in Antigua. Consequently, the instructors have a tremendous amount of experience in effectively breaking down the language, resulting in a proven method of teaching, which greatly enhances their students’ ability of gaining fluency.
The U.S. State Department estimates that 80% of the Guatemalan population lives in poverty. Life in Guatemala is very difficult. Many Guatemalan people are well educated and extremely talented. However, poor infrastructure results in a tremendous struggle to survive. SpeakSpanishLive.com was created with a giving spirit, intended to help hard-working, intelligent individuals improve their day-to-day lives and look to the future with hope.
As part of our study abroad immersion program, you too can visit Guatemala. You will live with a native family and study Spanish four hours a day, one-on-one with your same video instructor. Non-study hours can be spent participating in humanitarian efforts designed to improve Guatemala’s infrastructure.
SpeakSpanishLive.com supports Common Hope, an organization that provides, among other things, schooling and homes for those in greatest need. We can arrange for you to work at Common Hope, building homes, teaching children and adults, or providing other skills and services needed to help brighten the lives of many. In addition to Common Hope, SpeakSpanishLive.com supports G&B Coffee, an export company based in the United States. Guatemalan coffee, grown by farmers associated with Common Hope, is exported around the world, and all proceeds are returned to the farmers and their families. Your afternoons can be spent helping in the rich Guatemalan coffee fields or performing other administrative functions related to the business.
SpeakSpanishLive.com is a service organization, designed to provide a new level of fluency in the Spanish language, while bridging the gap between two cultures with so much to offer one another. Learn with us, study with us, live with us, and support a tremendous humanitarian effort! While becoming fluent in the Spanish language, you can make a difference in your own life by helping to save others!!
