Introduce yourself, talk about your family, your city and your daily routine, say what you like, order food and go shopping — plus your first Dominican expressions.
A2Elementary
Tell stories about your past and your experiences, describe how things used to be, make plans, give advice and get by when you travel.
B1Intermediate
Share your opinions, express wishes and feelings, make hypotheses and recommendations, and keep up with Dominicans when they speak naturally.
IS IT FOR YOU?
Made for people connected to the DR
Perfect for you if…
✓You have Dominican roots
✓Your partner or friends are Dominican
✓You live in, or are moving to, the DR
✓You love Dominican culture
Probably not for you if…
–You’re looking for lessons for kids
–You’re already an advanced speaker
–You have no connection to the DR
–You expect to master Spanish overnight
YOUR TEACHER
¡Hola! I’m Jelisa
I’m a native Dominican Spanish teacher and I’ve been teaching Spanish online since 2020 — first on Preply, where I taught hundreds of students from all over the world, and since 2023 with my own project, Jely Spanish. I trained in teaching Spanish as a foreign language at Universidad Miguel de Cervantes (Spain).
My lessons are for people who want to connect with Dominicans: your family, your partner, your friends or your new life in the DR.
Since 2020teaching Spanish online
6,000+lessons taught on Preply
A1 – B1a clear learning path
WHY LEARN WITH ME
01
My method
A clear, structured path from A1 to B1, with plenty of speaking practice from your very first lesson.
02
Your lessons
60 minutes, live and online. Real conversations, gentle corrections, plus materials and homework after every class.
03
What makes it different
You learn the Spanish Dominicans actually speak: the accent, the slang and the culture, not just textbook Spanish.
04
What you can expect
Understand Dominicans when they speak naturally, hold everyday conversations with confidence and feel at home with your people.
YOUR FIRST STEP
Start with a trial lesson
A short, relaxed first class to meet each other, find your level and see if my lessons are right for you.
Every class session with Jelisa, I always learn something new about speaking Spanish and Dominican culture. Whether you're someone of Dominican heritage looking to reconnect with your roots, or someone who has Dominican loved ones or friends, Jelisa is an excellent teacher. She is patient, compassionate, and genuinely enjoys seeing her students grow and thrive in speaking Spanish, especially Dominican Spanish, while learning about and embracing Dominican culture!
Kenneth 🇺🇸Student
I can only highly recommend Jelisa, she is a cheerful and fun teacher. She teaches her Spanish in a playful way that is fun. In addition, she has always selected good materials that she provides and with which it is a pleasure to work. I was able to learn a lot from her about the Dominican culture, how people live together and the country from her. Online but also personally on site. I am very grateful, she helped me more, try it. She is just great.
Barbara 🇨🇭Student
Jelisa is incredibly warm and friendly making it easy to learn and uses good materials for practice. Through my regular lessons I have learned about cultural things such as the Carnival Celebration, the Dominican Baseball League and the passion that each fanbase has for their team, and I have also learned about day-to-day things such as Dominican real estate, the types of cars people drive, etc. I am now more invested in my Mom’s culture than ever before.
Michael 🇨🇦Student
Jelisa is an exceptional Spanish tutor who has made learning Spanish very fun and enjoyable. She has a great personality and makes learning Spanish very easy. Her knowledge of the difficulties of the language and how to approach certain topics is very useful as well. I knew some basics of Spanish before learning from Jelisa and after 2 years I can say that I am almost fluent in Spanish thanks to Jelisa. Jelisa is patient and encouraging, and creates a positive atmosphere where learning feels rewarding.
Isaak 🇺🇸Student
When I started learning Spanish with Jelisa, I could barely make out an “Hola, cómo estás” but I am pleased to report that that is no longer the case. With Jelisa, not only do you discover the language of Spanish, but also the culture of the beautiful Dominican Republic. The content Jelisa covers is relevant to actual everyday life aswell as in the Spanish classroom, which is what I actually came to Jelisa for originally- to learn Spanish for school. Since then, I don’t learn Spanish just for academics, but also because it is something I genuinely enjoy doing. Furthermore, she is very flexible with times and your learning pace; one of the most patient people I’ve ever met. I cannot thank Jelisa enough for introducing me to this amazing language and culture- it is an experience to remember for the rest of my life.
Sophia 🇺🇸Student
I have been in and around the Latino community my entire life. Only speaking what we call in New York City as Spanglish. My life changed when I met Jelisa for a few reasons. In my opinion Jelisa is next level, much more like a professor than just a teacher. Jelisa constantly uses real-world examples to help you learn how to not only speak Spanish but hear it as well. I have never met anyone with the knowledge and kindness that Jelisa teaches with. I have even had the honor of meeting Jelissa in person, which is even more impressive. In my opinion, Jelisa is one of the best teachers that anyone could ask for. This rating system is flawed because there are not enough STARS to truly give Jelisa the credit that she deserves. if you have ever struggled to learn Spanish or are a beginner, Jelisa is the right person for you.
Kevin 🇺🇸Student
I highly recommend Jelisa as a Spanish tutor. She is patient, knowledgeable, fun, and her approach to teaching Spanish is both effective and enjoyable. I saw significant improvement in my language skills in a short period of time and over the course of our time together I am conversational fluent in Spanish.
Daniel 🇺🇸Student
I have LOVED my classes with Jelisa! I feel like I learn so much in every class and she truly listens and modifies the lessons to meet you where you are and WHY you are taking the classes. She is so patient with me. My favorite thing is if I ask a question or don’t know a word or how to say something in Spanish she types it for me. I have started my own dictionary for reference! I highly recommend her no matter what level you are at!
Ashley 🇺🇸Student
I started lessons with Jelisa about a year ago and love it! Her teaching style is very structured, so it's great for a beginner like me to learn the foundations of the Spanish language. She assigns homework and self study, which helps me to learn beyond just our weekly lessons. You can tell that Jelisa has a lot of passion for teaching Spanish and the Dominican culture. She is extremely warm and patient. Would highly recommend!
Jennifer 🇺🇸Student
Jelisa is an amazing tutor! I enjoy learning from her because she is very organized and passionate about helping me speak and understand Spanish. She's really cool and also uses Google Classroom, which is really helpful for me to go back and learn from the presentations we talk about and use the study tools provided in there.
Reid 🇺🇸Student
I grew up in a Spanish home, but wasn’t formally taught Spanish. So, my Spanish comprehension was at a moderate level, however, my speaking was nowhere at the same level. But after working with Jelisa, I went from beginner conversations to holding far more advanced conversations. My grammar, pronunciation, reading and writing skills have improved drastically as well. So, if you’re looking into improving your Spanish at any level, I would HIGHLY recommend working with Jelisa.
Mairenn 🇨🇦Student
I have studied Spanish for around 2 years with Jelisa. Your format in the lesson can be however you want it to be, for example, we speak for around 45 minutes of the lesson then cover the homework given the previous lesson. She is an excellent teacher and would highly recommend her.
Ian 🏴Student
Working with Jelisa has been a great experience because she explain the material to me very clear and she is very patient with me that makes the learning experience very fun and I feel I’m making progress with Jelisa. I was very lucky to find her and I recommend her 100 percent.
Tyrus 🇺🇸Student
She has a lot of patience and explains the lessons and homework very well. Looking forward to becoming fluent!!!
Kel 🇺🇸Student
Jelisa is an AMAZING teacher!! She has the gift of teaching! Very organized and has a passion for her students to learn!!!
John 🇺🇸Student
I knew absolutely nothing when starting classes but after only a few classes with her I feel like I can understand basic conversations. She is such an amazing teacher, so kind and patient when I forget vocab. I would definitely recommend!
Jordyn 🇨🇦Student
Jelisa is great! She is fun, bubbly and really easy to understand.
Fabienne 🏴Student
I decided to learn with Jelisa since she is Dominican, and so is my husband and his family. I wanted to be able to have conversations with my in-laws and make sure I understand everything. Most importantly, I wanted to learn more about Dominican culture. When I first started my lesson, I was so nervous to speak in Spanish because I thought I sounded silly. However, Jelisa helps me feel comfortable and pushes me to be confident when I speak. She knows that my favorite word to use in every lesson is "otra vez", and she will repeat the words until I get it. Jelisa is so patient with me and very understanding.
