The short answer...no.  Attached is a link to a well-written article about all the factors that go into achieving fluency in another language.  How Long Does it Take to Learn a New Language?​  After reading the article, consider this.  We will see your child approximately 37 times this school year.  At 50 minutes each time, that equals almost 31 hours.  Multiply that times 6 (the number of years they will have Spanish if they attend Spicewood for Kinder through 5th grade), and you get 185 hours.   Although we cannot take your child from beginner to fluent in the limited time we have together, we are very passionate about our role as PYP Spanish teachers at, arguably, one of the best elementary schools in the district, and there are some very significant things that we can accomplish that will have long-term benefits.  Here are some of the things we are intentional about as we work with our students:

• creating a love for language 

• creating a curiosity about the people and cultures of those who speak other languages

• developing a confidence in each child in their ability to learn a language

• kindling a desire to continue their language study (be it Spanish or another language) in middle school and beyond

• opening their eyes to the similarities between Spanish and English

• teaching them word association skills and memory tactics that they can apply across all disciplines throughout their educational career

• laying a foundation in some of the aspects of the Spanish language that are different than English (ie. the masculine/feminine nature of Spanish nouns, number/gender agreement of nouns, adjectives and articles, cognates and false cognates - what they are and how to take advantage of them, the patterns that are found in the Spanish language, Spanish punctuation, syntax similarities and differences, basic Spanish phonics, etc.)

We hope this will help you see Spanish at Spicewood as not only a tremendous opportunity, but as the privilege that it truly is.