About me!
Hey! I’m Dr. Aisha Z. Cort
I am a Cuban-Guyanese-American Spanish speaker from Boston, Ma. I received my undergraduate degree from Yale University in Spanish (2005) and earned my Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Emory University in Spanish Literature (2009, 2010). I moved to Washington, DC in 2012 and I am currently a full time lecturer of Spanish at Howard University.
My language story
Despite growing up speaking Spanish everyday in a Spanish-speaking household, I didn’t learn to read and write in Spanish until I was 13! When I finally started to learn… it was BAD. I wrote everything phonetically AND with a Cuban accent. I could barely read and I struggled. I was really down on myself thinking I would never get any better, then one day I realized that just because I was struggled at the moment didn’t mean that I would always be in that place. So I made a choice.
I went to teachers for extra help, I practiced reading newspapers and magazines out loud with my mother correcting me, and started writing my journal entries in Spanish as well as copying song lyrics in Spanish. It was a process and it was slow, but I stayed focused on my goals to achieve full fluency, not just mastery of the spoken language. Fast forward… I ended my Spanish studies in high school with a 5/5 on the Spanish Advanced Placement Language Exam, ended up switching my major during my junior year of college to Spanish, and went on to earn my Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Spanish Literature. Today I have over 10 years experience teaching, mentoring and coaching language learners at the Middle, High School and Collegiate level, and I am still learning. I love what I do and I am so excited that you are here taking control of your language studies!
As a language coach, I bring my experience into our work together and know that if you truly desire to reach fluency, conversational, or any other language goal, you can and will be successful! You have already made a choice to conquer your goals and I make every effort to translate the material in a manner that makes the information accessible and is conducive to you taking ownership of your learning experience.
How to navigate Hey Dr. Cort!
Take a second to read the “Why Spanish?” section for insight on why learning Spanish is so necessary now. The “Spanish Resources” tab is loaded with advice and language resources for various language levels and more are being added. The “Work with me!” section gives you different ways to connect with me as an educator, learner or both, including workshops, seminars, specialized cultural immersion programs, and one-on-one consultation. And in “Shop” you have access to unique language resources that I’ve created to aid you on the road to language success. This site is loaded up with all sorts of Spanish Language goodies!
Cheers to your success!!
~Dr. Cort