Uno, dos, tres, a Missouri Southern student is teaching children ages 7-12 how to count in Spanish.

Through the International Language Resource Center’s outreach program, Joplin area children can take a free Spanish class at the Joplin Public Library. The class was filled past capacity when it started Oct. 1. Some children had to be turned away, because the usual limit of 25 students was already at 32.

“We felt very bad about turning them down,” said Tatiana Karmanova, director of the ILRC. “The demand is so great we can’t possibly accommodate everybody who wants to take this class.”

All the center’s outreach classes are taught by Southern students who are either majoring in the language they teach or who are native speakers of the language. Alejandra Burgess, senior radiology and Spanish major, teaches the 4 p.m. Wednesday class at the library. She is originally from Argentina.

“I’m fully bilingual,” Burgess said. “At home we spoke English, and elsewhere we spoke Spanish.”

This is Burgess’s first time teaching the Spanish class at the library, and she said it is exciting.

“The children seemed really into it,” she said. “They really interacted, so I was very encouraged.”

The class learns to count, sing songs, play games and converse all in Spanish. Karmanova said the children will even learn about Spanish culture.

“What we’re trying to do is make it fun,” she said. “It’s designed to teach them the basics and get them interested in the language.”

Karmanova said many of the children who take the class can’t learn Spanish at their schools or are homeschooled, so the two-month course offers them a chance they might not receive otherwise.

‘In the past, depending on the availability of student-teachers, the class has also been taught in Chinese, Russian, French and German.

Elijah Hartje, 11, is in the sixth grade at Memorial Middle School. He takes the free class at the library with his sister, LaBresca. Elijah said he’s had Spanish since third grade and he likes it because it’s “fun.”

“I just like Spanish,” Elijah said, “and I like to learn it anytime I get to.”

LaBresca, 9, is in the fourth grade at Columbia Elementary School. She said this is her first time learning Spanish, but she doesn’t think it will be hard.In her class on Oct. 1, she learned to sing a song in Spanish.

“My favorite thing is meeting other kids that like Spanish,” LaBresca said.