Who is El Amigo Jeff?

¡Hola! I'm "El Amigo Jeff". That's the name of my alter ego for this website.

My real name is Jeff Rosales-Castañeda, and I want to use this opportunity to tell you a bit about me.

After all, you would not want to learn Spanish from a total stranger, would you?

The music you hear is the musical theme for this site, and it's called Pedro's Walking (composed by Tony Hernandez). Of course, you can press the pause/stop button at any time if you get sick of it. I don't, but you might.

I am a Hispanic-Australian dude, and Spanish was my first language; I speak it, read it and write it fluently.

I was born in El Salvador (Central America), and completed my primary and secondary education there.

I also went to University there, and studied law. However, I did not finish my degree there, as my family and I (My mum, sister and brother) had to leave El Salvador, and came to Australia as political refugees... but that's another story.

Anyway, Australia was good enough to open its arms to me and my family, and I embraced it as my new home. I've lived here for half of my life already (arguably, the best half!) and, although it has not necessarely been a walk in the park, I have enjoyed my life here.

I have made many friends, worked and studied, met my wife and her kids, and I am very happy.

I have a Bachellor degree in Arts (Politics, Philosophy and Sociology), and a Bachellor degree in Law (LLB), both from Murdoch University in Western Australia.

I now practice as a lawyer ("Barrister and Solicitor") in Western Australia in the area of labour relations and anti-discrimination law.

I am also a LEADR accredited mediatior, and an interpreter and translator in English and Spanish, accreedited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters ("NAATI") in Australia.

Why Can I Help You In Your Learning Spanish Journey?

Well, for starters, I speak, write and read Spanish proficiently. But that's not enough.

You see, I reckon it's my experience as a migrant from a Non English Speaking Background what I think qualifies me to guide you in your learning Spanish journey.

I have experienced the difficulties migrants encounter when we come to live in a country with a different language.

I know what's essential for everyday communication, and what's not.

I also learnt many tricks to learn English as a second language, and I'm using such tricks in this site for your benefit.

On top of that, I have a sound command of Spanish in terms of grammar, sintax, vocabulary and composition.

I learned these skills, believe it or not, during my primary school years.

From then on, I became a prolific (unpublished) writer and poet at a very young age and carried on till I made it to university.

And everything was going fine till, as I explained above, I had to leave El Salvador and had to start the process all over again; this time in another language!

Fortunately, I also had wonderful English teachers and a great desire to learn the language.

This not only allowed me to complete 2 university degrees (plus accreditations as interpreter, translator and mediator), but opened up lots of opportunities in this wonderful country, my beloved Australia!

Now it's my turn to return the favour. It's my turn to "pay it forward" by guiding you in your journey to learn Spanish with this site.

So, there you have it. This is why I think I can help you.

So, What Can You Learn From This Site?

I won't claim that you can learn all the Spanish you need in this site. Heck, no!

There are many schools, websites and courses out there, with far more resources that I have available!

But I do feel I can guide you on a few things regarding basic Spanish language skills, which you may find useful as a starting point.

If you learn a few things that will help you to communicate with others in Spanish to a reasonable level, I will have accomplished part of my site's mission.

Another part of my site's mission is to show you the way forward to advance in your Spanish studies.

As I said before, there are many sites, schools and courses out there teaching from basic to advanced Spanish.

Which ones are worthy of your time and money? I hope to be able to guide you in that respect... eventually... after I have developed enough content for you to chew on.

I do hope you enjoy following the growth of this site as much as I'm enjoying the process of creating and compiling learning materials for you.

If you have a question, or comment, feel free to contact me. I'm always happy to hear (or read) from my site's visitors!

¡Un abraso, y hasta luego! (a hug, and see you soon!)

El Amigo Jeff

P.S. A question I often get is how come your name is "Jeff", and not José, Manuel, Juan, or Pedro?

Well, Latin America is not isolated, you know? The United States has a strong cultural influence in these countries, and one of the results of the Coca-Colonisation process is that many of us have been named William, James, Robert... and even Jeff!

So, believe it or not, being named Jeff at birth is not so unusual as you may think. It's probably more of a shock to strongly rooted stereotypes and expectations about Latin American people. So, there you have it.

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