Aizpea Isasi - Spanish Instructor

Aizpea Isasi was born in the Basque Country (a region between Spain and France), where she was raised speaking both Basque and Spanish. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Translation and Interpretation and a Master’s degree in Teaching Languages and Literature. Her love for languages and traveling led her to study in Italy for a year and in Colorado for half a year, and then took her to the Bay Area, where she lived for 6 years before moving to Portland in 2021. In the years she spent in Oakland, she taught private and adult language lessons and also worked as a Spanish preschool teacher.

Aizpea is fluent in Basque, Spanish, English, and Italian, and has also taken French and Portuguese lessons. So as a language learner herself she understands the challenges of learning a new language and the feeling of being nervous of making mistakes. That is why she tries to create a respectful and welcoming environment for her students to participate and learn from practicing.

She began teaching at Tierra in 2022; she loves that the small classes in Tierra are conducive to building relationships and creating a warm classroom environment, and that she has a chance to focus on each student. What she likes about teaching Spanish is that culture is also shared and used to make learning the language a more immersive experience.

In her free time, Aizpea enjoys cooking, traveling, reading, camping and enjoying a good meal with friends and family.