If you can talk, you can write.

That's been my experience as a teacher, and it's on that sort of solid experience that I've tried to build my entire teaching approach.

I began my writing career as a journalist and was published in numerous publications long before I ever taught a class on journalism. (A listing is available on my resume.)

I wrote and published fiction before teaching others how to do the same.

And as for Spanish, I've spoken and translated since my college days, and I've used it often during my travels and in the workplaces I've managed.

So my teaching came not just from study, but from real-life experience.

I most often teach writing at Writers & Books, the nationally acclaimed Rochester New York literary center, but I've also taught at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, at Strong Childrens Museum, for Perinton Recreation, and for Cornell Cooperative Extension.

My class subjects have included journalism, fiction ranging from genre to Young Adult and historical fiction, and (my favorite) memoir. You can see whether I have a class opening right now, just by clicking on the link.

My background and experience with Spanish -- especially Spanish as used in the workplace -- allowed me to translate and teach it. But my experience in seeing it used at work also helped me to develop an exceptionally useful and cost-effective method for teaching Spanish for businesses with Spanish-speaking workers or personnel.

It's called "Spanish For Working People," and it's an easy-to-learn way for working people to enough Spanish to greatly improve job performance and business functioning.

Using simple phrases and a non-grammatical approach, with an emphasis on the words and language customarily used in each specific business or job function, my method allows people with little time to learn, a way to pick up enough basic language to make the work environment function better and more nearly at once.

The goal is to simplify the language and create a 'cambio', or combination of culture and language, since the two usually go together.

I fashion each course for specific industries, and I've taught usable Spanish to people in dairy farming, landscaping, computer sales, and manufacturing. And I've done so through the Cornell Cooperative Extension, as well as independently.

And yes, the same training can be applied to Spanish-speaking workers and personnel as well, so that functional workplace communication becomes a fact in the fastest possible amount of time, with the least discomfort.

Interested in learning more about my Spanish method? Or in contacting me for a fiction or nonfiction teaching assignment?

Call me at (315) 597-9791, or email me at camy@camysorbello.com, and we'll talk.