Small Talk hopes to become big business someday.
The Zeeland company that brings world languages and culture to children ages six months through five years is looking to roll its programs out in coming months to gyms, libraries, homeschool co-ops, and day-care settings in metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Toledo, and Indianapolis.
It's a new business model that company co-founder Jonathan Koop hopes will consolidate Small Talk's position as a premier provider of language and culture instruction for everyone from toddlers to junior high.
Competitors to Small Talk-type immersion classes for youngsters are growing in number, says Koop, 27, adding “the name of the game now that other people are jumping on board is speed.”
Koop and co-founder Lilah Ambrosi, 32, are encouraged by the reception of their idea of employing native-speaking teachers who use music and movement to immerse young children in a new language and culture. But they've had to recalibrate their method of bringing the idea to market, thanks to 18 months of experience running Small Talk classes in French, Spanish, and Mandarin in Holland and Grand Rapids.
Instead of relying on the relatively slow growth and capital intensive model of running their own schools, Koop and Ambrosi are shifting to a training model by offering Small Talk curriculum - as well as training, materials, and on-going consulting – to entrepreneurs who want to implement the strategies by teaching a language in their own markets.
By partnering with Small Talk, business owners will receive licensed curriculum and attend required training sessions but will keep their own tuition dollars.
“We see huge potential for business owners to succeed, as well as parents and children to be able to succeed with the language,” says Koop, a business major with a degree from the University of New Hampshire. “I keep reading article after article that says, ‘In a bad economy, if you can’t find a job, create your own.’ This is perfect. Rather than getting the kids to come to you, you go to the kids.”
While some may question whether very young children retain much from a few weeks of immersion in a foreign language, families are signing up their children at Small Talk classes. Small Talk curriculum will be used in 10 West Michigan-area schools this fall, Koop says.
“When I heard about Small Talk, I knew the benefit of children learning a second language at a very young age, so we decided to try it,” says Kristi Patrick, a Zeeland mother who enrolled her 3-year-old daughter in the program. Patrick, 31, says her daughter is now able to count interchangeably in Spanish and in English as well as follow simple commands in Spanish.
Patrick and her husband, who has no background in Spanish and is learning along with the children, don’t want the language learning process to stop. “We are currently looking into schools with Spanish immersion programs,” says Patrick, who studied Spanish at Hope College.
Tara DeRoo, 34, chose Small Talk for her children, ages four and two, because “it was all of the other ‘kid’ activities combined - play, music, art, reading, snack time, social interaction - plus learning another language which I have always felt is important for their education.” De Roo, a bereavement counselor for Hospice of Holland, notes that it would be her first choice to seek out a school with a second language option when the time comes.
To serve that market, Koop and Ambrosi are working to launch next year add.a.lingua, an immersion curriculum geared toward school-aged kids through the 8th grade. Koop thinks add.a.lingua will allow schools to draw new students in the door by offering something that differentiates them from competition.
“People understand that they need to do something with language, but they don’t know what to teach or how to teach it, Koop says. " That’s where we come in. We provide continuous training and consulting, keep up with the research, and implement it into the school.”
As proof, Koop points to the symbiotic relationship their program has developed with Zeeland Christian School’s El Puente Spanish immersion program, now in its third year. “Private school enrollment is declining nation-wide, but with the immersion program, Zeeland Christian’s enrollment is up 20 percent over the past three years. Other schools are coming to them to ask for advice.”
Bill Huizenga, director of advancement and promotion at Zeeland Christian Schools and a father of five students in the schools, endorses the partnership heartily. The Zeeland native, 40, says the program is “a special gift to give the kids.” Noting that the world is fast becoming a more global place, he gives a nod to the practical benefits and brain research that supports immersion programs.
“It has really become a central selling point for the school," Huizenga says " Frankly, parents are searching it out. This program has opened the gates.” Huizenga says ZCS’s relationship with add.a.lingua is “evolving,” and describes El Puente as a potential test-site that will allow add.a.lingua to fine-tune curriculum and programs before exporting the concept to the rest of the country.
Huizenga’s wife, Natalie, sees the benefits of immersion schooling in her children. Her daughter, an incoming third-grader in her third year with the program at Zeeland Christian, is fluent in terms of understanding Spanish and can easily switch back and forth between English and Spanish in a conversation. Beyond the language acquisition, she says, “the culture exposure is huge.”
Bill Huizenga, a life-long Zeeland resident, sees the potential for long-term change in the West Michigan culture as a result of the immersion programs. He laughs as he recalls seeing a line of students practicing the marimba in the hallway this year, something he doubts he would have seen in his days as a student in the same building. There is a world map on the wall across from his office, and he observes groups of students, teachers, and parents use it as a touchstone on a daily basis.
“There’s an increased curiosity about the world, a push for kids to learn about different parts of the world," Huizenga says "El Puente means “the bridge,” and this program – with its sharing of food, culture, traditions and language – brings people together and allows us to be one community.”
“This is a big-city idea in a small town location," says Koop, a Holland native. "But the costs are lower here, and the people are here. All of our talent – native speaking teachers - has come from West Michigan and are products of local schools. It’s been fun to be able to line up local talent and have a global impact.”
While he concedes that the youngest students may not initially retain much vocabulary from the immersion classes, Koop cites research that shows the benefits of exposing young children to foreign language and culture while their minds are still supple.
“By the age of twelve, your brain has been trained in a single language and it’s very difficult to learn a new one,” he says. Small Talk’s plan, going forward, is to reach as many children as possible before that window closes.
“It’s rewarding to be a part of something that’s actually helping kids immensely,” says Koop, noting that his nieces and nephews sing songs in Spanish as a result of their Small Talk experiences and will be starting pre-school at El Puente this fall.
“We’re really trying to change the way language is perceived in the United States. This trend is going to happen, and we want to be on the front of it.”
Stephanie Doublestein writes and blogs about food, business, and parenting, among other things. She lives in East Grand Rapids with her husband and their two young daughters.
Photographs of co-founders Jonathan Koop and Lila Ambrosi by Brian KellyBrian Kelly is a commercial photographer, ice cream addict and Rapid Growth's managing photographer. You can follow his adventures
here on his blog.