Whether students who attend Foreign Fluency courses take the classes to supplement their education in home school, summer school or after school, they say they stick with it because the teachers make learning a new language exciting.
Cathy Sirk and Marisela Morgan, Foreign Fluency owners, said they want to help children acquire languages as early as possible, when they have the easiest time learning.
"The best time to learn a language is before puberty because you retain it," Morgan said. "Even if a language is just spoken to you (at an early age), you have an easier time learning it later."
Sirk started the company in spring 2004, and has a Spanish education degree from the University of Northern Colorado. Morgan is a native Spanish speaker, who earned a Spanish degree with an emphasis in Portuguese from the University of Arizona. Morgan became a co-owner of the company this month because it has expanded from one teacher to eight in less than a year.
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The teachers focus on immersion and avoiding direct translations. Instead of telling the students that "pollo" is the Spanish word for "chicken," they show the students a picture of one and teach them the word.
"Our teacher is very kind. She takes it easy and she gives us games. It's so much fun," said Elizabeth Phillips, 7. She began Sirk's classes for home-schooled students last spring, said Deanna Phillips, Elizabeth's mom.
"She loves it," Deanna Phillips said. "They give homework and she does it the same day."
Deanna Phillips said she has recommended the Foreign Fluency classes to many people, and though she took Spanish classes when she was younger, Elizabeth is soaring ahead.
"I have a feeling she'll be above me by the end of the year," Deanna Phillips said.
Alexandra Diaz, 9, has been taking Foreign Fluency classes for about a year.
"At first it was something for her to do after school, and she was interested in it," said Dolores Diaz, Alexandra's mom. "She had fun — she wanted to know why it wasn't more times a week. She was encouraged to learn more."
Dolores Diaz said she would recommend the classes to other third-graders at her daughter's school, Coyote Trail Elementary, 8000 N. Silverbell Road.
Other parents said it speaks highly of the program that they recommend the classes to others.
"In the home-schooling community we're really sensitive about who we're going to put our kids with," said Barbi Weber, who home-schools her third- and sixth-grade daughters. "I trust (Cathy) with my girls, so I know I can be confident to recommend her, and I'm a hard person to sell. I don't trust my kids with anyone."
The children's ability to quickly absorb the language concepts helps Foreign Fluency teachers use immersion in their teaching. This means the students hear and speak only the language they are learning while they are in the classes. The summer classes, which are seven hours a day for five days, are primarily taught using immersion, Sirk said.
The students don't just enjoy that learning, they see a purpose to it.
"I use it a lot when I go to Mexico with my mom, so it's very useful. Basically, that should come in real handy," Elizabeth Phillips said.
Foreign Fluency offers classes in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and German, and Morgan said they would offer others if there were enough demand for a class. The company started on the Northwest Side but has expanded to a few classrooms in other parts of Tucson.
For the new year, Sirk said she hopes to continue to expand the business with more classes in more parts of town, and maybe write a book for the classes.
"I've done a lot of either creating my own materials or using a bunch of different books," Sirk said, explaining that she would like to have one teaching tool for the students to use.
The basics
● Foreign Fluency classes are taught in school classrooms, community centers and other areas where the business owners can rent a classroom.
Class costs are as follows:
$50 for elementary students enrolling in an eight-week class during the school year. Classes are one hour a week.
$35 an hour for private tutoring.
$75 for adults enrolling for the first time in an eight-week class. Classes are one hour a week, offered once in the fall and once in the spring.
$60 for returning adults enrolling in an eight-week class. Classes are one hour a week, offered once in the fall and once in the spring
Foreign Fluency also offers summer classes. Contact Cathy Sirk, 591-3665, for more information.
