MY SPANISH JOURNEY...

I’m Emily, a 28-year-old Spanish-teacher and business owner from Belfast, N Ireland. But let me take you back 20 years ago when it all started...

I’m Emily, a 28-year-old Spanish-teacher and language lover from Belfast, N Ireland. Let me take you back 20 years, to when it all started…

I picked Spanish back up again at 12 years old. I followed the path of learning the whole way through school and my love for language blossomed. At 18 years old I got accepted into my “dream university” to study Spanish, French and Portuguese.

However, Edinburgh University was not for me. I felt out of place and terribly homesick. I knew something was wrong when I didn’t even want to go to Spanish class..

In 2021 I graduated with a First-Class Honours BA in Spanish and French from Queens University, Belfast.

I will always be grateful for the strong linguistic foundation and qualifications that my academic education gave me…

But my true Spanish journey began when I moved to Spain.

I lived in Madrid between 2019 and 2022, and aside from the minor interruption of the global pandemic... these were some of the best years of my life. I developed my Spanish to fluency, made true friendships and built a full life… all in Spanish. Thanks to this period in my life, I formed a relationship with Spanish that went beyond studying.

I worked as an English teacher in local schools and taught Spanish online on the side. I also trained to be a mindfulness and yoga instructor for kids and teens.

In 2022, I moved back home to focus on my career. After a lot of experimentation, failures, side-jobs and feeling very lost for a while… I came back to where I felt most at home: Spanish.

After starting my business, I couldn’t ignore the niggling feeling that I needed to move back to Spain… and so I did. In 2025 I moved to Granada alone to build my business, expand my Spanish and make new connections.

I started Your Spanish Journey in 2024 for people just like you: passionate, dedicated, curious learners who love Spanish as much as I do. At first, I had no idea how to run an online business, but I knew it was right…

At the end of 2026, I am now happily settled in my home, Belfast. I am building my online business, teaching Spanish and have even picked up Portuguese again. Spain will forever be my second home, and I am lucky to visit it often... & I can’t wait to explore more of Latinamerica soon.

Everyone’s Spanish Journey looks different, but the one thing that brings us together is our love for the language. My hope is that my work helps you to fall in love with the journey of learning.

Learning Spanish has added so much colour and meaning to my world: bringing me countless connections, experiences, lessons and so much fun along the way. It’s made me understand the world, myself and other people better.

Spanish has given me drive, purpose and passion, and now I am lucky enough to share this it with the world.

Thank you for being part of My Spanish Journey, and I am so grateful to be a part of Yours 💜

A few months later, some crazy life circumstances led me to La Habana, Cuba. This was a trip that would change me, my perspective on life and My Spanish Journey forever

My Spanish Journey began at just 8 years old, when I fell in love with the language in a holiday resort in Benidorm with my grandparents in 2006, and it was love at first listen. I spent the next little while obsessed with Spanish. I still remember my dad’s friend Juan Carlos speaking to me Spanish as we made little wax figures. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.