Bio
Marlys McClaran
Born in the U.S., Marlys moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina with her family at a young age. Being educated bilingually was the beginning of a life-long interest in languages and cultures.
Back in the U.S., a college minor in Spanish language and literature was followed by a Ph.D in linguistics at Harvard University. Field research in several native languages of Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru was combined with a teaching position at UCLA, where she taught courses in language and culture and field methods for eight years.
After a period of research for marketing applications involving fieldwork in Brazil, South Africa, England, and Western Samoa, Marlys received a Fulbright Award to teach and study bilingual education in Cuzco, Peru. This interest in bilingual education led to work in adult literacy in Santa Monica, California, and then in the bilingual program at the primary level in Los Angeles public schools.
She has taught beginning literacy in Spanish as well as English as a second language, and has developed programs for teaching Spanish to adults in a business context. She continues to teach in public school in the inner city, and to contribute content to this website.
Her goal for this site is to teach conversational Spanish, as well as Spanish grammar and vocabulary, and to follow along as –to correct his errors and to ensure he (and everyone else) stays motivated to learn Spanish.
Ready to begin? It’ll be updated with new lessons and Spanish language insights weekly.