Speaking Andaluz: Nesh, the Irish language teacher who is a big hit with millions of views on TikTok

The young woman, who teaches expressions such as po', aro' and andevá' on her social media networks, says she feels "more me" when in Malaga

Ángel Gallardo

Malaga

Monday, 10 July 2023, 18:07

TikTok was only supposed to be a tool to promote her business, but it's made her known across Spain and the world after a video in which she taught Malaga expressions like po', aro' and andevá' to foreigners went viral.

"I knew that Spaniards like to see things about their language and accents, but I didn't know it would come to this," Nesh said.

She is an online language teacher and, in addition to her courses, has two different social media accounts, one for teaching Spanish and one for teaching English. The only downside of going viral is that it alienates her target audience, she added.

"On my LiveAndSpeakSpanish account I wanted my audience to be English, but the comments are full of Andalusians. It's all getting mixed up," she said. Her intention now is to use the recently-acclaimed fame to reinvent herself, take advantage of the algorithm and reach users who really need to learn Spanish.

Nesh is a cocktail of cultures; She is of Filipino origin, but moved to Ireland at the age of 11, so is fluent in both Tagalog and English. She also speaks French, which she studied at university, and Spanish, which she learnt on her own. She has lived in four different countries, sharing flats with people from all over the world, which allowed her, among other things, to learn Italian as well: "They ask me where I'm from. Maybe I'm speaking English and when I drop something, I say a swear word in Italian. I'm like a mixture of everything".

She got to know Malaga when she was still studying Modern Languages in Dublin. She was 20 years old at the time and enjoyed a three-week stay in the province as an au pair. Her host family was from Benalmádena, but they showed her the best spots on the Costa del Sol. She still didn't know what she wanted to do for a living, but she knew where she wanted to live when she finished her studies.

A year later, during an Erasmus in Ciudad Real, she discovered by chance her vocation as a teacher. "I was looking for a butane gas cylinder and, at the time, I didn't speak that much Spanish, so I went into an English academy to ask where I could find one," she said. The teacher who took her in gave her the information she needed, but also offered work with them for the time she was in the city.

After graduating, fortune landed her way again and she was presented with another job opportunity, this time as a language assistant in Spain. "I chose Andalucía and they gave me Malaga, not El Torcal or other places, Malaga city," she said.

That's how a series of nice coincidences brought her to the place she fell in love with years ago, a city where she feels like herself. "I've always had an identity crisis and a crisis of not knowing where my home is. When I'm in the Philippines, I feel more Irish; when I'm in Ireland, I feel more Filipino; but when I'm in Malaga, I feel me. The people here have welcomed me very well," the teacher said.

Having lived in so many places and breathed in so many different cultures, it's given her an extraordinary ability to adapt. "My friends say I'm like a chameleon, I can adapt to living anywhere in any language. I don't notice it, it's very easy for me". Even so, there are things in Malaga that still take some getting used to, such as using the blinds. "In Ireland we don't have them because there is no sun," she said.

She also doesn't quite understand Spaniards' perception of the weather. "If you say 'see you next Thursday' and it's Monday, what do you want, in two days or in nine days? You also say: 'I didn't sleep very well tonight' but you mean last night," she said.

Last year she launched The Live and Speak Challenge, a digital course for learning English in an alternative way. After the TikTok boom, so many users have signed up that she has to select those who are going to be her students. "We meet twice a week and every day they also have to send a video of themselves speaking English," she said.

Nesh's method of teaching the language combines her academic knowledge with her own experience. "I've learned five languages, I know the best and the worst ways to do it," she said.

In her opinion, there is no single, definitive strategy for everyone, so her teaching techniques are based on self-knowledge and self-efficacy to help students find the learning strategy that best suits them: "What you have to do is to know yourself, your weaknesses and your strengths.

More practical English

Nesh believes that English should be taught in a more practical and personalised way. "There are many Spaniards who know more grammar than necessary and then don't know how to speak," she said. She also considers that one of the disadvantages of learning the language for a Spaniard is that Spain dubs everything and Spaniards don't usually watch films or series in their original version.

She also does not understand why academies teach only one accent, citing the example of Andalucía for students of Spanish. "Many people come to the south and it's frustrating to arrive and not understand the people here," she said.

That is why she tries to promote Andalusian through her social media networks, which she considers "the definitive evolution" of Spanish. "You say more words in less time, so you communicate more quickly and efficiently," Nesh said.

At the end of the interview, a couple strolling along Calle Larios recognise her. "We love your videos," they said. Judging by her reaction, it seems that this is not the first time she has been stopped by someone to say "hello "or ask for a photo. Nesh is still not used to this sudden fame, but she is not going to let social media absorb her. She wants to teach people English and use TikTok, where she already has millions of views between her two accounts, to promote her business and spread her strategy of language learning through self-knowledge.

And all of this because she happened to walk into an English school to ask where she could find butane...

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