Hello! I am MariÁn Pradas Ten. I was born in Spain, and I moved to live permanently in the U.S. in 1994. I have lived and taught in Saint Paul since then.

My interest for teaching English started during an extracurricular English class I took when I was 8 years old. My mom tells me that one day right after class, I came out claiming that I wanted to be an English teacher when I grew up. As a high schooler, I started playing teacher by tutoring my friends, my sister’s friends, neighbors … and I loved it! I got my B.A in Filología Anglogermánica and my official teaching License from the Universidad de Valencia. Once here, I validated my credits and took the courses that are mandatory to be able to teach in Minnesota.

While I was in college, and before moving here, I had mostly taught English as a foreign language in a private English Language Academy in my hometown. Here, I have taught in private schools teaching Spanish and in SPPS teaching English to multilingual students.

 Teaching English Learners is truly the most rewarding job I have ever had in my life, especially since my childhood dream has come true! As an English learner myself, I often share with my students the strategies and process I have used myself to learn English, as well as all of the challenges that English presents to people of other native languages.  This gives me the advantage of knowing where my students struggle because I can foresee where and when those challenges present themselves. Best of all, the students and I relate to the experience, challenges, and successes that come with learning English.

I have been an English Language Learner [ELL] teacher at HPMS since 2016, and I feel like I will be here for many years to come.