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Hola. I am
Gabriela.
I was born and raised in Costa Rica in 1984 — a true Tica de pura cepa, as my grandmother used to say. I grew up speaking the colorful, warm, and wonderfully expressive language that you will find throughout every lesson I teach and every page of my book.
I did not grow up wanting to be a Spanish teacher. I grew up speaking Spanish — around the kitchen table, at the corner pulpería, cheering for La Sele on Sunday afternoons, and saying pura vida to absolutely everyone I met. The teaching came later. The language was always just life.
“Real language lives in the streets, not in textbooks. That is what I teach — and that is the only Spanish worth learning.”
For over ten years I have been helping students from the United States and Europe discover what Spanish actually sounds like — not the version in a course or an app, but the living, breathing language of real people in real places. My students range from CEOs preparing for meetings in Latin America to teenagers taking their first Spanish class, from travelers heading to Costa Rica next month to expats who have lived there for years and still feel lost in conversation.
In 2025 I published Tico Talk — a guide to 101 essential Costa Rican Spanish words and phrases. It was born from a simple observation: my students could pass a Spanish test but freeze the moment a real Tico started talking. The book fixes that. And the private lessons take it further.
From Costa Rica
to the classroom.
Growing up in Costa Rica, I never thought of Spanish as something to teach. It was simply the water I swam in — the jokes my father made at dinner, the songs on the radio, the way neighbors called to each other across the street. Language was not a subject. It was life.
That changed when I began working with international students for the first time. I watched people who had studied Spanish for years struggle to hold a basic conversation with a Tico. They knew the grammar. They could conjugate every verb. But they had never heard “mae,” never understood “pura vida” beyond its literal translation, never known that “ahorita” and “ahora” mean entirely different things in Costa Rica.
That gap — between the Spanish you learn and the Spanish people actually speak — became my life’s work.
Born and raised in Tiquicia — growing up surrounded by the warmth, humor, and color of Costa Rican culture and language.
Over ten years teaching Spanish as a second language — from complete beginners to advanced professionals, from teenagers to C-suite executives in the US and Europe.
Taking private lessons online — reaching executives, professionals, and students across the United States and Europe via Zoom, without borders or time zone constraints.
Published Tico Talk — 101 Essential Costa Rican Spanish Words & Phrases for Travelers — on Amazon Kindle. The book that teaches the real language, written by a real Tica.
Teaching private Spanish lessons online at spanishfluent.com — one session at a time, one student at a time, with the same philosophy that has guided every lesson from the beginning: real language, real connection.
How I teach.
Why it works.
After ten years of teaching, I have come to believe that most language programs fail not because the students are not trying hard enough — but because the method is wrong. Here are the four principles that guide every lesson I teach.
Speaking First, Grammar Second
You learn to speak by speaking — not by studying verb tables. Every lesson puts real conversation at the center, with grammar introduced naturally through use rather than as an end in itself.
Personalized to You
There is no standard curriculum at SpanishFluent. Your lesson plan is built around your goals, your level, and the real situations you face — not the situations a textbook thinks you might face.
Culture is Part of Language
Understanding Spanish means understanding the people who speak it. Every lesson weaves in the cultural context — the humor, the customs, the unwritten rules — that makes the difference between translating and connecting.
Progress You Can Feel
You should leave every lesson knowing something you can use the same day. Not theory. Not preparation for future learning. Immediate, practical progress that builds momentum and keeps you motivated.
Why Costa Rica
changes everything.
Pura vida is not just a phrase.
It is a philosophy. It is the way Costa Ricans approach work, relationships, time, and life. Understanding it — really understanding it — is the key that unlocks everything else about the language and the culture.
Costa Rica is a country unlike any other in Latin America. No standing army since 1948. Five percent of the world’s biodiversity in a space the size of West Virginia. The happiest country in the Americas according to multiple international surveys. And a dialect of Spanish so vivid, so inventive, and so uniquely local that it has become the foundation of everything I teach.
When you learn Spanish with me, you are not just learning a language. You are learning a way of seeing the world. ¡Pura vida!
What students
say about Gabriela.
“Gabriela does not just teach Spanish — she teaches Costa Rica. After three sessions I understood not just the words but the culture behind them.”
“I have had many Spanish teachers over the years. Gabriela is the first one who made me feel like I was actually speaking the language — not performing it.”
“My daughter went from dreading Spanish homework to asking for extra sessions. Gabriela has a gift for connecting with young learners.”
“What separates Gabriela from every other teacher I have tried is that she remembers what it feels like to not understand. She is endlessly patient and relentlessly practical.”
Let’s speak Spanish
together.
Book your first private session with Gabriela today — or start with the Tico Talk book and arrive at your first lesson already speaking like a Tico.
Book a Session — $50/hr Get Tico Talk — $4.99Questions about
Gabriela
The most common questions students ask before booking their first lesson.
I was born and raised in Costa Rica — I am a native Tica. I teach online via Zoom, which means I work with students anywhere in the world. My primary student base is in the United States and Europe, and my scheduling is flexible to accommodate a wide range of time zones from Pacific Time to Central European Time.
I have been teaching Spanish as a second language for over ten years. In that time I have worked with hundreds of students — complete beginners, intermediate speakers, executives, teenagers, children, expats, and travelers — across a wide range of goals, industries, and backgrounds. Every student has made me a better teacher.
I teach students of all ages and levels. My adult students range from executives and business professionals who need Spanish for their work to travelers preparing for a trip to Costa Rica to expats who want to finally break through to genuine fluency. For younger students, I offer age-appropriate lessons for children from age 8 and teenagers up to 17. See the Courses page for a full overview.
My lessons are conversational from the first session. I believe the fastest way to learn a language is to speak it — with a native speaker who can correct you in real time, give you the cultural context behind the words, and adapt to exactly what you need. I do not use a fixed curriculum. Every lesson plan is built around the individual student. Grammar is introduced through conversation, not through drills or exercises.
Yes. I am fully bilingual in Spanish and English, which means I can explain concepts clearly in English when needed — especially for beginners who are not yet ready to follow explanations entirely in Spanish. As students progress, lessons shift progressively toward full Spanish immersion at a pace that suits each individual.
Tico Talk is a guide to 101 essential Costa Rican Spanish words and phrases, available on Amazon Kindle for $4.99. I wrote it because I kept watching my students succeed in Spanish classes and then freeze completely the moment a real Costa Rican started talking. The gap between textbook Spanish and real Costa Rican Spanish is enormous — and nobody had written a practical, accessible guide to bridge it. So I did. You can find out more on the Tico Talk page.
Simply send me an email at gabriela@spanishfluent.com — tell me a little about your current Spanish level, what you are hoping to achieve, and your availability. I will reply within 24 hours to confirm a time that works for you. There is no enrollment process, no placement test, and no minimum commitment. The first lesson is all it takes to know whether we are a good fit.