Elissa McLean

Teaches at Express Fluency

Elissa holds a master’s degree in education from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and is a licensed Pre-K–12 Spanish teacher in the state of Vermont.

She began teaching Spanish in 1998 and has since worked with students ranging in age from 3 to 78. Her travels throughout Latin America inspired her both to learn and to teach Spanish. Prior to founding Express Fluency (formerly Escuelita Spanish School) in 2009, she served as curriculum director on the founding teams of two innovative high schools (The Shackleton School and Watershed School) where she developed Spanish immersion and travel programs for students. She led high school students on expeditions to study border issues in the United States and Mexico for six years and currently leads Express Fluency’s travel programs in Central America. She has taught students in grades K-12 in public and independent schools. In 2013 she lived in Costa Rica, teaching Spanish in a high school semester program.

Elissa is trained in Comprehensible Input (CI) methods including Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling® (TPRS®).

She brings to school her passion for travel and cultural exchange as well as her firm belief that anyone can acquire another language—even those who have given up.

(6 Reviews)

Spanish Weekend Immersion (Beginner/Advanced Beginner)

Anonymous review on 1/9/2020
Spanish Weekend Immersion (Intermediate)

Reviewed by Anne F. on 1/15/2018
Spanish Weekend Immersion (Beginner/Advanced Beginner)

Reviewed by Sherry Ann S. on 10/25/2016

Elissa's teaching method is definitely not common, but it definitely helped and brought back the Spanish I had knowledge of many years ago. I find myself to be speaking more fluidly and with more confidence!
Spanish Weekend Immersion (Intermediate)

Reviewed by Divya Bendre on 5/30/2016

The weekend class is a great way to gain confidence in speaking Spanish AND it is a great way to spend a weekend! The people are great fun and Elissa is both systematic and flexible in her methods. Highly recommended!
Spanish Weekend Immersion (Intermediate)

Reviewed by David Elsila on 5/19/2016

My wife, Katie, and I spent a delightful weekend with about eight others in this class, and came out speaking Spanish! The course revolves around learning some basic verbs and nouns, and moving around the group starting stories and adding to them as we moved along. Great method and good success. Hope to go back for Intermediate, where we'll add past/future tenses to what we've learned. We recently visited Cuba and this class helped us a lot.
Spanish Weekend Immersion (Intermediate)

Reviewed by Barbara K. on 11/16/2015

If you are inhibited about speaking Spanish, this teacher and class method will help you start to overcome that--and, besides, it is a totally fun class...take the whole series (three weekends, one a month) if you can. By your second class, it could feel like home to a little family of friends...