Amy Scott

World languages and cultures have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. My father was a pastor/church-planter, and through his work, as well as my mother's passion for missions, my four siblings and I were frequently introduced to people from other lands. As a teen, I studied American Sign Language, Spanish, and French in school. I was particularly captivated by the passion and energy of one of my French teachers. To this day, I credit her with converting me into a true Francophile, and for giving me a vision for teaching.

After studying French and Spanish in college, I started my teaching career in the U.S. In 1997, I moved to Moscow, Russia, where I lived in an orphanage and taught English as a Second Language in the Moscow public school system. During this time, I learned to speak, read, and write Russian.

In 1999, I traveled from Russia to France where I taught in an international mission school. From there, I headed back to the U.S. to attend seminary, with the intent of returning to the mission field after my studies. In 2002 I met my future husband, and in 2004 we were married. For ten years, I was privileged to be a “stay-at-home” homeschooling mom. During those years, I volunteered in our church’s mission programs as well as in homeschool co-ops, and took temporary gigs teaching at the Alliance Française and OneWorld Language Solutions.

In 2015 I returned to teaching in a more traditional setting. I am currently teaching middle and high school Spanish part-time in a Christian university model school, while attending graduate school in pursuit of a Master's degree in Romance languages with a specialty in Spanish Linguistics and Cultures. Although I will always be a Francophile, over the years I have also fallen in love with the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures. I have been privileged to spend time in Spain, Honduras, Venezuela, Mexico, and Costa Rica, and with Hispanic immigrants in the U.S.

My engineer husband and I are raising our three children (ages 15, 12, and 9) in the St. Louis, Missouri area. We love to travel, hike, bike, rock climb, and read good books together. My current travel dream is to motorbike the Pan-American highway, starting in California and stopping to take in the amazing sights as I continue to the tip of South America.

I have found that languages open doors to friendship, to knowledge, to inspiration, and to dreams. I have been blessed with the gift of languages, and it is my earnest desire to share this gift with you!

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that students possess an innate, God-given curiosity and desire to learn. I believe that great teachers bring out these traits in their students. In my opinion, education should be relevant and meaningful; and classes should be based upon community, creativity, and critical thinking skills.

In language teaching in particular, I do not desire so much to teach my students facts about the language, as to teach them how to use the language so that they can fearlessly interact with other language learners and native speakers. Not all students will be grammarians or linguists, but everyone can learn to communicate, and to appreciate other cultures and this big wonderful world that God has made!

As such, I teach using a method known as Comprehensible Input (CI). Classes are conducted in the target language approximately 90% of the time, in a way that students gain understanding from the beginning and develop confidence in verbal expression. Work at home focuses on reading and writing, simultaneously developing both whole-language and grammatical skills.

Statement of Faith

I believe that the Bible is the infallible written Word of God. I believe that Jesus is God’s one and only begotten Son, the living Word of God, fulfilling all the prophecies and promises of Scripture. I believe that salvation comes through Christ alone. I believe that the Holy Spirit is the third part of the triune God, and that He is the seal for believers unto the day of Christ’s return.

I grew up in a Christian home, and as a young child, I understood that Christ’s death upon the cross was for me, a sinner. I prayed to ask Jesus to “come into my heart” and redeem me. God has been faithful through the years to teach me more of what it means to be a follower of Christ. My family and I are members of Grace Baptist Church in Saint Charles, Missouri, where we are privileged to serve and be in community with a local body of believers.