Hello! My name is Oscar Garcia Marchena, teacher of Spanish. Let me tell you a bit about myself:
I was born in the beautiful city of Seville, in the south of Spain. I have always been passionate
about theater, languages and literature, and when I studied Spanish and English in the University
of Seville, I discovered a new passion: linguistics. Besides, as a teenager I discovered a deep
interest in travelling and meeting new people and different cultures, so since I was in high
school I worked as a private tutor after class in order to save money for my dreams of travelling
around the world. So it is not that surprising that I ended up teaching in Hong Kong!
When I finished university in Spain, I went to Paris, France for a year off, and the city captivated
me: I spent 18 years teaching Spanish in several schools and universities, while I kept studying.
In that time, I completed a degree in computational linguistics, and a master and a PhD in
linguistics, with a specialty in the syntax of oral Spanish.
Since my main personality trait is curiosity, my interest in other cultures led me to do volunteer
work in Fujian, where I participated in a project to preserve the architectural heritage of Fujian
Tulou. In this wonderful experience I discovered and developed a passionate interest towards
Chinese culture, so after two summers of working holiday in Hong Kong teaching Spanish, I
decided I wanted to settle down in Hong Kong, where I could keep developing my two main
passions: teaching and learning; teaching Spanish and learning about Chinese culture.
I love literature, cinema, art, travelling and learning languages. Thanks to my years in Paris, I
am fluent in French and Italian, besides English and Spanish. I also speak a little German, and I
have just completed an A1 level in Japanese and Mandarin – I am so willing to keep on learning! I
also like cycling, not only as a sport, but also as a means of discovering new places.
Regarding my idea of teaching, I believe self-motivation is the main driving force to develop
student’s full potential, so I see teaching as a process to wake up in the students a passionate
attitude towards the world. Another important ingredient in the recipe for personal success is
believing in oneself, so in my teaching practice, I have always these two goals in mind: to
develop in the students a passion for their object of study, and to make them believe they can
achieve everything. In this way, I try to learn from Sir Ken Robinson’s words:
“For most of us the problem isn’t that we aim too high and fail – it’s just the opposite –
we aim too low and succeed.”