How Learning Spanish Helped an Arizona Police Department Employee Reconnect with Her Roots



Updated November 2025
Written by Carlos A. Rubí, Senior Digital Communications Strategist & Language
Education Writer at Spanish55

 

This is Angie’s story of how Spanish shifted from a distant family language to something she can use at work, on the road, and in the life she’s building for herself.


In This Story

  • An Arizona police department employee begins reclaiming the Spanish she was never taught at home.

  • A childhood gap tied to culture and family history becomes a motivation to reconnect with her roots.

  • Immersion trips to Mexico and Argentina deepen her understanding of everyday Spanish and regional nuance.

  • Three weekly online lessons with Coach Atenea help her gain confidence at work and in real conversations.

  • Her long-term goal: feel at home in Mexico again - and finally understand the jokes.

 

Reclaiming a Language She Never Got to Learn

 

Born in California, raised and rooted in Arizona, Angie Armijo works nights at a small-town police department and spends her off-hours chasing a language she was never given. Classes in Guadalajara and Cuernavaca, an apartment near Evita's tomb, three online Spanish lessons a week with our very own private Spanish tutor, Coach Atenea… each step tightens the thread between heritage and daily life.

 

 

Rediscovering the Language of Her Heritage

 

Angie Armijo introduces herself plainly: born in California, raised in Arizona, and still living in Arizona. She retired in 2018, then took a job with a nearby police department, a place where responsibility shifts by the hour. "One day isn't like another," she says. The unpredictability suits her, but it also exposes a gap that has shadowed her since childhood: Spanish. "I always had an interest in the language," she explains. "I wanted, and want, a closer connection with my culture."

 

A Heritage Story Shared by Many “No Sabo” Latinos

 

The missing link can be traced back to two generations. Angie's grandmother didn't pass down Spanish to Angie's father. The decision was shaped by the segregation and open racism of her time, and by a complicated wish to, quote unquote, "be American." Angie describes the fallout with measured clarity: a home where Spanish existed but stayed out of reach, a code shared by adults when children weren't supposed to understand. "There's a large group of us of Hispanic heritage who weren't raised with the language," she says. The popular label for this, she notes, is "no sabo", incorrect Spanish, yes, but also a tag for the ache of being "not American enough" and "not Mexican enough." Learning the language is, for her, a way to close that distance.

 

Stepping Into Spanish Through Immersive Travel

 

She started in junior high, continued in high school and college, and then did what many busy adults do: she hid in the back row and drifted. The change came when she took herself out of classrooms where it was "easy to hide" and put herself right into Spanish life. She lived with a "very traditional" family in Guadalajara and a "very modern" family in Cuernavaca. The contrast sharpened her ear and gave her something books couldn't. "In both places I could participate in cultural experiences," she says. The travel didn't stop there. In Buenos Aires, she stayed with a friend in Recoleta, near Evita's resting place, and then traveled to Colonia in Uruguay before flying south to the glaciers in Patagonia.

 

 

Building Confidence With Personalized Spanish Lessons

 

Arizona kept calling, and so did the job. Her police department serves many residents who don't speak English, and, at least in her corner, no one else in the department speaks Spanish. "I wanted to help the people in my lobby," she says. The need pushed her to formal coaching with Spanish55 and her online Spanish tutor, Coach Atenea. The fit felt immediate. "I was thrilled," she says. "She has a lot of experience in the world, and similar interests to mine. It's like talking to a friend." That sense of safety mattered. "When I started, I did not have conviction," she admits. "I have more now."

 

Turning Daily Practice Into Real Communication

 

Practice turned up in quiet places. At work, she and a cleaning staff member switch between English and Spanish every day. The small talk is steady, the stakes low. With time, the radius widened. Angie can follow more at meetings that involve finances and court procedures, as well as technical material that demands focus, even in her first language. She wants to move beyond the basics into more nuanced conversations. "I want to talk about deeper topics," she says. "It's still hard, but easier than before."

 

Bringing Spanish Into Her Home Life

 

Spanish also became a part of her evenings at home. Angie watches telenovelas, especially anything with Fernando Colunga. Right now she's making her way through Amanecer. Live broadcasts arrive without captions, but Netflix offers subtitles, and both are useful. "A lot of communication is nonverbal," she says. She'll track actions first and let the dialogue catch up later. The repetition helps. She smiles at one practical win: "I learned the word 'hipoteca' (mortgage) from a telenovela." She also listens to podcasts, including Conquering Spanish by Spanish55 and Españolistos. On YouTube, she follows “Dreaming Spanish”, a panel of women from different countries (Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Argentina) to hear accents and learn how one harmless word in one place can be "a dirty word" in another.

 

Staying Committed - Even on the Hard Days

 

The old nerves haven't vanished, so she treats Spanish like a fitness regimen. Night shifts leave her tired, but the calendar keeps her honest: three classes a week, even when the brain "isn't firing on all cylinders." A bad session is just a rep that didn't land. "Tomorrow is another day," she tells herself. On downtimes, she taps in Duolingo, reviews flashcards, and turns new words into sentences. "The more important thing is that you're communicating, not that you're using the right tense," she says.

 

The Long-Term Goal: To Truly “Get the Joke”

 

Her definition of progress is both practical and ambitious. In the near term, she wants conversations that feel complete. Long term, she wants the jokes. She remembers a rapid-fire stage comedy in Buenos Aires. "I was laughing hysterically," she says, "and I didn't understand a word of it." The irony wasn't lost on her, she even recognized one of the actors from Dancing with the Stars Argentina, yet the punchlines flew by. "At some point, I'd like to get the joke," she says. Humor, she knows, requires timing, context, culture. She's working toward all three.

 

A Student-Tutor Relationship That Feels Like Friendship

 

If there's a constant, it's the conversational space she shares with her coach. Angie calls Atenea "awesome," then unspools a list of places Atenea has lived: Portugal, Spain, Mexico, Sweden, now Hungary, and the oddball topics that spring up: rollerblading, roller derby, weekends that wander. "Sometimes the lesson leads to other conversations," Angie says, and that's the point. An hour of Spanish that behaves like life, not a worksheet.

 

Looking Ahead: Returning to Mexico With Confidence

 

She hopes to retire back to Mexico someday, not as a visitor but as a neighbor who can navigate, joke, and be understood. The family thread has already begun to fray in one direction: "As I studied Spanish, my grandmother was proud of me," she says. The name on Angie's family tree, "Rubi", is the same last name she spots on the newsletter masthead. "I think that is so crazy because it isn't a common name," she adds with a laugh. "I wonder if we are cousins." The language will carry her the rest of the way.

 

Start Your Own Journey Back to the Language You Love

 

It’s never too late to learn the language that feels like home.
Schedule your free trial lesson with Spanish55 and discover how personalized, one-on-one coaching can help you find your voice in Spanish.


 

Meet the Online Spanish Tutor Behind Angie’s Progress


Curious to learn more about the Spanish tutor who has guided Angie toward confidence and cultural connection? Read Atenea’s story here to discover the experience, passion, and perspective she brings to every lesson.

 


Questions This Article Answers

  • How can adults reconnect with Spanish if they didn’t grow up speaking it?

  • What makes working with one-on-one with an online Spanish tutor effective for heritage speakers?

  • Can immersive travel and online Spanish lessons work together to build real fluency?