Native Spanish speaker, university instructor with 10+ years of experience, and PhD in Spanish. Offering personalized lessons to help you build fluency and confidence at any level.

I took Dr. Trigo's class at Rice University as a personal goal to strengthen my Spanish, and as prep for a trip to Spain. I really enjoyed the adaptive nature of her classroom. For context, I entered the class as an intermediate speaker of Spanish and was able to engage with the lessons themselves in Spanish, speaking, reading, and writing.

The materials she chose for the class helped to expose students to a variety of Spanish accents and topics in popular culture, and provided opportunities for practical experience in articulating our opinions on modern cultural topics in the form of in-class debates. This was incredibly useful while I was abroad since it gave me experience hearing and using words for expressing a point of view and gave me open questions to seek answers to for cultural topics in my host city.

Dr. Trigo has also been proactive in supporting projects by students. When I mentioned to Dr. Trigo that I was interested in starting a Spanish-language book club, she sent me an extensive list of influential books in Spanish including their country of origin and whether or not they had been translated from another language. This list has been useful to me not only for my reading in Spanish, but also as a useful reference for any works I may want to read in English.

Overall, I recommend Dr. Trigo for her practical teaching style that reminds students of the sheer size and variety of the Spanish speaking areas of the world and provides opportunities for participation in modern topics within these countries, allowing students to learn how to structure their point of view in Spanish and opening the door to the articulation of more complex thoughts in the language.

I've taken two classes with Natalia at the Rice University continuing studies program. She's fantastic, pushing me to practice my speaking while at the same time making learning fun with debates and short videos. I'd recommend her extremely highly, and I plan to continue to study with her.

Natalia teaches almost entirely in Spanish from the start, which felt intense but honestly sped things up a lot. She keeps expectations high even when you're struggling, which I appreciated more in hindsight. The mix of debates and real-life exercises made things stick in a way that traditional lessons never did for me.

Natalia is an excellent and inspiring teacher. She eagerly anticipates the needs of her students, and I appreciate her willingness to adapt. I have enjoyed completing multiple sessions with Natalia and look forward to the next one.

Professor Trigo is one of the best professors I have had. Over the past six months, I learned an incredible amount under her guidance. She is patient, understanding, and brings a great sense of humor to every class that makes learning enjoyable. What sets her apart is her genuine passion for teaching and her ability to connect with students by engaging in topics and conversations that are actually meaningful to us. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a Spanish professor who truly cares about her students' growth.