Today we’d like to introduce you to Karina Torres.
Karina, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Yachaywasi started around 2 years ago. I am a linguist and I have been working with children for almost 7 years now. What I did notice over time was that the younger they are the easier it is to acquire a second or third language in a very natural way. Soon I noticed that the best way to raise bilingual children was to start them as young as possible and just immerse them in the language in a natural and homey environment. With time the project evolved in Yachaywasi which I like to think it is a second home for our students.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
To be honest the path has been pretty smooth so far. I’ve had other projects also teaching languages which seemed much more challenging but since I started Yachaywasi we have had such an amazing response from the local community our growth has been exponential.
Please tell us about Yachaywasi Inc.
There are so many things I believe are different from our program:
1) We are 100% Spanish immersion preschool.
2) We are based in a beautiful Spanish house in the heart of the Miracle Mile, walking distance from LACMA and La Brea Tar pits. Such an amazing location allows us to be able to organize walking field trips to local parks and museums. This I believe are very enriching experiences for our students.
3) We have a very small teacher to student ratio which helps with the language acquisition process.
4) All of our teachers come are native Spanish speakers from different countries so our children are exposed to different dialects which I believe in the end will help them to have a broader sense of the culture.
I think one of the things I am most proud at this moment is that we are helping many of our families to maintain their cultural heritage by helping them raise their children bilingual. Many of our students come from multi-ethnic families and for many trying to teach their children their native language has become a bit of challenge. I also love how diverse our student body is especially with all the things going on in our country where being different is not perceived as being OK in so many places. I think we are educating our children to understand the world is very diverse and that diversity is OK. In the end I believe this is what makes true citizens of the world.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
No, I started small and it was nice to do it this way because it allowed me to see so many different aspects of the business that I think it has enabled me to learn so much more. I really think that from every experience a lesson is learned and experiences good or bad always teach us something.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.yachaywasi.us
- Phone: 3235154919
- Email: info@yachaywasi.us
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yachaywasispanishschool/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/yachaywasi-los-angeles
