About me

¡Hola! My name is María Blanco. I am a Senior Lecturer in Spanish,   language learning strategies coach, and teacher trainer. I  currently work at the University of Westminster teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language in the Language Centre and BA programme. I also work for Hodder and Stoughton as a Spanish Development Editor and as a language learning strategies coach at María Blanco Coaching. 

I am passionate about the work I do. It gives me great satisfaction to see students improving their performance and self-confidence with the work we do together. 

As a specialist in effective language learning strategies, I have delivered coaching and workshops for Adult and Higher Education students and teachers in the UK, Spain and Germany. And I have worked extensively in designing, delivering and assessing Spanish as a Foreign Language courses since 1996. 

I have published How to Learn Spanish: A guide to powerful principles and strategies for successful learning and self-empowerment (Hikari Press, 2021)  to empower students by introducing them to key principles and practical techniques that have proved to be very effective for optimising the process of language learning and making it more enjoyable. 

How to Teach Language Learning Strategies: 4 simple steps for successful independent language learning (Lightwork Press, 2021) is written for language teachers. In the book, I share a simple and effective approach that I have successfully used with my students. It is a short and practical book, and the approach is applicable to modern foreign languages in general. 

I gained my BA (Hons) in Education at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (Spain), and completed an MA in Modern Languages in Education at the University College of London Institute of Education.

I am a Neurolanguage Coach®, certified by Efficient Language Coaching and accredited by the International Coaching Federation. I am also a certified EUROLTA Teacher Trainer, International House Spanish Language Teacher and Online Tutor, DELE Examiner, and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

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