Marta Lahuerta – Meet our Teachers

As Spanish teacher, what is your vision for the 2020-2021 Academic Year and what would you like to achieve?

As the Primary Spanish teacher at Bangkok Prep, I would love to share my language and culture with the students and also the staff. I believe learning a language is fully linked to the culture and traditions of a country so my objective is to keep the students motivated and interested to learn Spanish language, culture and traditions.

It is also very important that the students remain open minded about other cultures, languages and traditions, being respectful and becoming internationally minded citizens. I believe world languages play a big role when it comes to providing internationally minded experiences for our students.

What do you love about working at Bangkok Prep?

I love how everyone smiles at you, from Nursery all the way to Year 6, children and staff… Bangkok Prep is one of the friendliest schools I have ever worked at! The environment is very positive and everyone involved in teaching and learning are always trying to become better at what they do. I also love the fact that you can develop your career as a teacher and all the Professional Development opportunities the school offers to teachers. Finally, I love feeling supported and trusted by leaders and peers making me feel empowered and motivated.

What was the reason you initially decided to start teaching?

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. When I was in Year 1, I had a responsibility in class: take care and help my friend Marta, who had Down’s syndrome, read and write. I adopted a teacher’s role at the age of five and I absolutely loved it. I also admired my Year 1 teacher, Miss Pino, and I always thought one day I could be just like her, caring, supportive, always smiling, helping children learn… that was my dream… I guess dreams come true!

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Outside of work I love dancing, doing yoga, traveling and wandering around the city, getting lost exploring new places. I also enjoy watercolour painting but I have not had enough time to get back at it since I came from Spain!

Please can you give me a summary of your qualifications and previous work experience?

I studied in Spain until I finished my degree in Primary Education with Special Needs training. After this, I decided to move to the US at the age of 21. I worked at an Immersion Spanish School in San Diego for a year and took a course on teaching and learning the US curriculum. After a year I decided to go back to Spain to work as a classroom teacher. 

In Spain I worked at an International School very close to my hometown. I was Year 1 and 2 classroom teacher for four years. I led the Spanish for New Teachers course, where I used to teach Spanish from a communicative and a task based learning approach.

Last year I decided to take a gap year and volunteer on board a Cruise Ship (Japanese NGO Peace Boat) that circumnavigates the world during 102 days. I volunteered as an English and Spanish teacher for adults and I got to learn a lot about SDGs, World Peace and Japanese culture. We visited 22 countries and went through the Panama and Suez Canal!