Our Teacher
Alberto Alfaro is a native Spanish speaker from Monterrey, Mexico. He grew up in Mexico until he was 8 years old when his family decided to emigrate to the United States. He spent the next 10 years growing up in Dallas, Texas. As a freshly graduated high school senior, he made the unusual decision to move back to Monterrey, Mexico and begin his adult life in what now felt like a foreign country.
To his advantage, having learned English while living in Dallas, he had a head start in his career teaching a foreign language. He began teaching English in Mexico to very motivated students. They could see the benefit of knowing a second language and the job and travel opportunities it presented. Shortly after landing his first teaching job, he enrolled in “El TEC de Monterrey” to become officially certified to teach English as a foreign language.
Two years after landing this dream job of teaching (right out of high school), the school he was working at made the hard decision to close. The principal of the school was willing to sell the materials and name to Alberto allowing him the opportunity to run his own English school. He ran this school from 2003 to 2007.
But Why Grand Junction, CO?
In 2005, Alberto married his wife, Megan, who is a Grand Junction native. In 2007, they decided to move up to Grand Junction to raise their young family. After completing all the steps of immigration, Alberto received US residency and shortly after began teaching a foreign language again. However, this time it would be Spanish to English speakers. Spanish Now began in 2009.
Since 2009 Alberto has taught over 1,000 students in the Grand Valley. These students have ranged from 5 years old to 85 years old and come from all types of careers and walks of life. It is also worth noting that in 2011, Alberto moved from the status of a US resident to become a US citizen after navigating that process on his own (it’s lengthy!).
When Alberto isn’t teaching Spanish, you’ll find him spending time at home with his 8 children (who, yes, are home-schooled). He also keeps his teaching cup full as the athletic director for the “Jags” homeschool sports league. Every winter you’ll find him coaching boys’ basketball, and when he’s not on the court, he’s leading the youth group at his church through weekly Sunday School classes, monthly Bible studies, and annual youth camps.