Testimonials
"I have been studying with Aly for over 2 years now, and she's the best teacher I have ever had the pleasure of working with (and that's after two undergrad and two graduate degrees!). Her deep understanding of both English and Spanish languages, as well as effective teaching strategies, has made her an invaluable companion on my route to learning Spanish. Aly's tutoring has allowed me to improve my spoken and written Spanish and my ability to read and listen far more quickly than I could have done without her help, and she's always teaching me a thing or two about my native language as well!"
Heidi G.
"Aly Castillo is an excellent Spanish tutor, and she is also a kind and caring person. She is creative and flexible, so she can customize your sessions to accommodate your specific goals or language needs. She works with all levels and ages of students, and is encouraging and enthusiastic. I met Aly several years ago because I wanted to refresh my Spanish skills. I had lived in Spain when I was in college and felt I was losing my Spanish. Aly keenly identified the areas where I needed to focus while recognizing my strengths at the same time. I no longer consider her just a great tutor; she is my friend."
~Amy Kirkman
"Aly Castillo is the greatest Spanish tutor I have ever had. Aly is a kind and very thoughtful person. She makes it her job to make each session better than the last one. She also cares about your interests and will find fun ways to get work done. If you ever get something wrong, she won’t just tell you it’s wrong but she will also tell you how to fix it and will go over examples until you finally understand the material. Aly isn’t the kind of tutor that makes you do work 100% of the time, she will always have discussions about how things are going and will always listen as long as you are speaking Spanish. There is no better tutor than Aly Castillo. I started working with her when I was in seventh grade and to this day, I get 100% on every Spanish quiz and assignment."
~Bridger
"Aly has been tutoring me in Spanish for the past six years, two hours every Tuesday at the Fleur de Lis coffee shop. It has been fun, always.
She is bi-lingual. She knows English and Spanish grammar and can clearly explain both, can even, rather effortlessly, decipher the mysteries of the dreaded Spanish subjunctive. But she’s easy about it: if you want to learn Spanish without delving into grammatical explanation, that’s OK with her too. “You’re the boss,” she says.
In general, she’s easy about structuring the lessons. She has a wealth of materials—books, exercises, videos, games—if you want her to plan how your Spanish learning will go; but if you, like me, have your own ideas she will put her own suggestions aside and help you realize your own learning plan.
Aly is clearly a highly-educated person. Several times she has helped me compose formal letters in Spanish—this has always resulted in elegant, logical compositions.
Working with her is a pleasure. A lot of hard work, but also a lot of laughs."
~ Richard
I have been working with Aly for about 8 years now and my Spanish has gotten so much better since I’ve begun working with her. I was in the Portland Public Schools Spanish immersion program when I first met her and was mostly fluent in Spanish for my age so she helped me maintain my fluency when I was no longer being taught Spanish at school. Aly is able to identify the weakest parts of my grammar skills (like the subjunctive!) to help me improve those, and she engages me in conversations with her every lesson, which helps to improve my speaking skills. She has also read many texts and given me many essays to write to strengthen my reading and writing Spanish skills. With Aly, I have improved in all aspects of Spanish to the point where I can take college-level Spanish classes and comfortably have conversations in Spanish with people when I'm traveling abroad. These past two years she helped me score a 5 (the highest score possible) on both the AP Spanish Language and Culture and the AP Spanish Literature and Culture tests. I don’t think I would have scored a 5 without Aly’s help. I am so glad to have found Aly and am incredibly grateful to have been able to have her as my tutor for so many years. Beyond being an outstanding tutor, she is also incredibly friendly and kind to me. I highly recommend Aly to anyone considering a Spanish tutor, especially at a more advanced level!
~Sitka