If you are an American student of Spanish, or if you live in the U.S., then Spanish from Mexico is statistically the most suitable for you, and by far
67 out of every 100 Hispanic people in the U.S. are of Mexican origin. In the opposite direction, more than one million U.S. citizens reside in Mexico, which makes it the country with the largest American expatriate community in the world. 1 out of 3 Spanish speaking people in the world are of Mexican origin. (Graphics by the U.S. Department of State).
Latin American Spanish
I graduated -obtained a degree- from Columbia University, New York, and I am a native of Mexico with a fairly neutral accent. While Europeans often prefer learning Spanish from Spain, Latin American Spanish -basically from all countries except perhaps Argentina, Colombia, and Costa Rica, places where the second person singular familiar personal pronoun tú is used only by a minority, since it's not native to most of them- is the variety you will use in the United States. European and American Spanish are as different, or as similar, as English from the United States and English from the U.K., or Australia. However, the most distinctive characteristic is that Latin American Spanish is pronounced without the lisping-like sounds. Latin American Spanish is used on U.S. official and corporate Web sites. Mexican Spanish, more specifically, is the most used variety on U.S. Spanish language TV networks, and is spoken by roughly 100+25 million people, more than one third of the Spanish speaking world. Although hardly will you ever need them in the Americas, my lessons also include grammar structures used in Spain (vosotros, leísmo) if requested.
Where?
At the following Manhattan locations: Along the number 1 train. Target store at Marble Hill, Manhattan, at 225th St. (Just at certain times), Upper West Side, Columbus Circle, Midtown, Chelsea, West Village, Union Square, Astor Place, Flatiron. Upper East Site at Lex and 86th only. Midtown East at Juan Valdez on 57th and Lex. If you have a Columbia University ID, at Buttler Library.
My first choice for a meeting place is at a public spot (Starbucks are the best, dinners or restaurants are not). At Starbucks, they are pretty cool if we are sitting there studying a couple of hours, at most other places they are not. The have coffee, water, soda, restroom, air conditioning, heating.
Unfortunately, I don't own my own classroom. The advantage is that you don't have to chip in to pay the classroom's rent, like in some other places.
When?
Please check the availability section.
Levels?
All.
Unlike teachers at language schools, who very often specialize in only one or two classes, and from then on they just work on autopilot mode, I have had to work with clients of absolutely all levels. I have had students starting from level zero, and also students who are quite advanced.
Zero level. (Students who don't even know what sí, or amigo, or adiós mean). At this point, many students experience learning a foreign language for the first time. At this level, I hear comments from "it's more difficult than I thought", to "It's sooo easy! I can do it myself!". I would say both are right and both are wrong. They are right because being a beginner student requires that you absorb a lot of vocabulary, like a sponge. It might seem too challenging or tedious, but on the other hand, you cannot judge the language by its introduction; later it gets better. For those who think it's extremely easy, they have to bear in mind that learning the vocabulary with its correct pronunciation is crucial. If you learn a word on your own without proper feedback, or even worse, in silence, and you record the wrong pronunciation in your brain, then it will become more difficult to correct it later on. You will mispronounce it many times before it gets fixed up.
Beginner levels. You need to study the present tense of regular and irregular verbs. Introduction to all parts of speech. You need to learn prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, adjectives, question words, etc. Introduction to the preterit tense. Introduction to present subjunctive.
Medium levels. Here, for students who haven't studied Spanish in a while, the challenge for me is to find the right restarting point. The main focus is on mastering advanced verb tenses and moods.
Advanced levels. After we figure out the best restarting point, we usually focus more in idiomatic expressions and more specialized vocabulary. Many students at this level master 90% of the common verbs, 90% of the common vocabulary, but they watch a soap opera or movie and they cannot understand 50% of it, even though they understood all the individual words that were said. They are not able to understand a joke. The are not able to get a double entendre. My job at these levels is to help you conquer most of these challenges.
More frequent questions
A
question I came across with twice is whether I teach Spanish from Barcelona or
not. The answer is no. The Spanish language universally known as Spanish is
more specifically called Castilian, or castellano. Below,
there is a link to a web page in
a beautiful,
yet different language, also from
Spain, called catalán. This is the regional language spoken in Barcelona.
Furthermore, Barcelonans sometimes speak Spanish (Castellano) as a second language
with some subtle interference from their first language called "catalanismos." 
Executives? Somebody asked me if I teach executives too. I don't see why not. Executives and non-executives; professionals and non-professionals, all are welcome.
What method? Beware of people who state that their method, or they themselves, are the best. What is best for one student might not be the best for another. There is no way to know which method is the best if they don't know the student's background yet. It takes some time before the teacher and the student adjust to each other.
Immersion approach? In New York? This "method" requires that you travel to a Spanish speaking country, that you live with a Spanish speaking family, and that you study the language and possibly the culture for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the afternoon 5 days a week for a few weeks. It dramatically improves language skills in a relatively short period of time. Nevertheless, be careful if somebody offers you this method in NY. This approach, as you can see, would be a joke here.
Baby method? I have received some students who previously tried the "baby method," and they still had to learn grammar. A baby first listens to the language and observes adults for about twelve months before being able to figure out and say daddy and mommy. It is said that babies are able to hear sounds shortly before they are born, or while they are apparently sleeping. By the time they are able to reproduce these words, babies have listened to them hundreds -or thousands- of times, plus the situations surrounding these words. Babies learn a language nearly 24x7 and not just 2 or 4 hours a week. Babies have different capabilities -and the time- to learn languages by just listening and observing, capabilities that most adults have long lost. Babies and even young kids don't need grammar at first, but adults need it, at least to some extent. If you don't learn grammar at all, then you need to study many more hours and $pend much more money. You need to learn many particular instances of each rule, instead of just one rule. The only exception is when your native language is Italian, French, Romanian, or Portuguese, for example, then you can avoid a big deal of grammar if you study Spanish.
Regardless of the method, you'll need to learn by heart a few thousand words. One of my students who took 4 hours a week for a year and kept track of all the words he learned, counted 2800 words. He was able to speak Spanish pretty well within a year, and he is still my (advanced) student. You also need to read and do homework. Learning a language requires commitment and effort, and most importantly some motivation as well.
Accents? Someone asked me about Spanish accents (dialects). This lady wanted to know if there is some Spanish speaking country where there is no accent. I was surprised at this question. Every Spanish speaking country has at least one distinctive accent. Within each country there are multiple regional accents. This lady was particularly concerned about the pronunciation of the letters "y" and "ll." I told her not to worry, no matter how you pronounce it, you will be understood by any other Spanish speaking person.
Can you teach my child? No. I love kids, but nervous parents hanging around make me feel uncomfortable. It's a common feeling among most tutors. However, I have a baby student who is around during her mother's lessons, he also attends this language school for toddlers, and both, mother and baby, Julie and Jonathan, seem to like it: http://www.holaplaygroup.com