Writing & Languages

Spanish Out Loud: Storytelling and Real Conversation

Meets Wednesdays · 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM · on Zoom Fall 2026 · registration open Free to audit

This class runs in the Fall 2026 session. Registration is open now; lessons, materials, and the class discussion board are posted before it begins.

A talk-heavy Wednesday-night class for anyone who can read and understand a fair amount of Spanish but still freezes the moment they have to speak. The problem is almost always the same: you build the sentence in English first, then translate. We spend the whole term breaking that habit. You'll be paired up and speaking within the first ten minutes, every single week. Less worksheet, more mouth.

We focus on the two things real conversation actually demands. First, the past tenses, because you can't tell anyone what happened this weekend or what your grandma's kitchen was like without them, and we drill them through stories instead of charts. Second, staying afloat when you blank: filler words that buy you a beat, ways to react like a person instead of a textbook, and how to recover when you don't know a word. Expect real situations too, ordering for the whole table, a phone call, small talk that isn't painful. You'll sound dumb sometimes and that's the point. By the end you can tell a full story start to finish, handle a real back-and-forth, and think in Spanish instead of racing to translate.

What you'll learn

Respond in Spanish without translating in your head first
Use filler words and reactions to buy thinking time naturally
Tell a full story with the past tenses, including setting the scene and interruptions
Handle real situations like ordering food and phone calls
Recover smoothly when you blank on a word mid-sentence

Lessons

Killing the Translation Habit
We start by breaking the English-first habit that keeps you three seconds behind every conversation.
Talking About Right Now
Present tense the way my mother-in-law taught me, by asking for the salt and the spoon.
The Preterite: What Happened
The done-and-finished past, learned by telling somebody about your weekend badly, over and over.
The Imperfect: How It Used to Be
The background, the setting, the way things were, so your stories stop sounding flat.
- Describe your grandma's kitchen25 min
- What you used to do as a kid20 min
- Setting the scene before the thing happens20 min
Putting the Two Past Tenses Together
Preterite versus imperfect is where storytelling actually lives, so we practice until it clicks.
Real Conversation, Real People
We put it all together with actual back-and-forth, because a human who reacts to you beats any app.

Class discussion

The class discussion board opens when the class begins this fall. Auditors and enrolled students ask questions and share work here once the session starts.