Do you want your child to become bilingual? Multilingual? Well, LangoKids is a great place to start for families looking to have their children become well known with the language, Spanish! LangoKids is a learning place based in Irvine for younger and older kids. It is filled with kind and loving teachers, amazing ways of learning and a positive, safe environment. The owner of LangoKids, Cristiana G. Versteegh was interviewed this past week, answering some questions:
Q: What was your motive to begin this program?
A: Well raising bilingual and multilingual kids is a beautiful thing. So, I am a teacher and I understand the development of children. I know what they need at every stage of their life and I am also a mom. So I feel like I was able to blend the two together and provide something meaningful to the community, and in that way, we serve the families that speak Spanish at home but don’t know how to pass it to the kids. We also serve the families of the kids that are curious about how language works or how languages are taught and learned. We also serve those families that already know a language or two and want to be even more bilingual and multilingual.
Q: What is a usual day like at LangoKids?
A: We are primarily an afterschool program, our classes start after the kids have finished their regular school days. So they’re brought in by their parents, grandparents, nannies, a whole community that rallies together to make the language possible. Classes start at 3:30pm for the little ones and end at 5pm and then at 5pm we receive the ones that are older, 7 to 11 and they end at 6:30pm. And we also have Saturday classes, 8:45am to 12pm.
Q: What aspects of your language program do you find most rewarding?
A: Two things: Number one, I find it really rewarding as a teacher and as a mom to see other kids using Spanish as communication whether it is here in the class or outside when they get to go on trips or communicate with Native speakers, and that way they are closing gaps and being bridges in the community. And two, I love that through Lango I am able to impact a whole different community because a percentage of the proceeds that we have here at Lango go towards a program that supports orphans in Tijuana, Mexico. So we are not only able to impact and bring financial resources, we also bring other kinds of resources and we bring ourselves so that we can provide actual immersion to our kids and have them be the impact to other communities that really need support.
Q: What do you believe sets LangoKids apart from other language programs in the area?
A: This is a program that is run by professionals. I myself hold a masters of arts, language and literature. And I am very immersed in languages and linguistics and also child development so the parents are in good hands. And also I have teachers that are very, very experienced and very loving as well. They’re moms as well so they understand the process of learning a language and they are very caring and loving towards anybody that walks in. In fact, my idea is that when everybody walks in they feel the warmth and love that we as latino people provide. And in addition, we have a curriculum where there are clear standards and objectives and we have different levels of fluency from basic to advanced so people know that we will be able to help their children no matter the stage they are in.
Q: What advice would you give to parents who want their children to be bilingual and multilingual? Where can they learn more about you from?
A: My biggest advice is to utilize the incredible potential of our kids. When they’re between zero and seven years old, they are in their most primal, most optimal time to learn, one, two, three, four languages, so use that time as much as you can. After ages seven and eight, the process of language learning is a whole different story. Kids want to control what they learn, just like adults, so it is not the same, it is not impossible, but it is not the same. For families that actually speak the language, my advice is to actually use it, no matter how little or how much you speak it, use it, because the kids are grasping it all. For the ones that don’t know the language, my advice would be to let yourself be captivated by it because it’s a beautiful thing and if you come here to us, we will help you in the process. We’re Langokids Irvine and you can find more information about us on our website, langokids.com and also you can call us at 714-864-4680. Thank you.
Don’t be afraid to bring your kids to LangoKids for them to learn and have fun with Spanish! It is a great community and great way for your kids to be immersed into a new language.
