Lead Story
Language Link Helps Adults Acquire New Language
Language Link is an international program based in Peoria, but many area residents have never heard of it. With an expanding global economy, however, that won't be the case for very long. "Our service is fairly unique," said Executive Director Kay Rafool. "We represent 16 Spanish language schools in eight countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Spain. We send more than 1,000 people per year of all ages to study Spanish from four to six hours a day in these schools, which teach the language exclusively."
She said the participants, who live with local families while attending school, are anywhere from absolute beginners to professors of Spanish, and they stay from one to 24 weeks. "With just a phone call or e-mail, we make all the arrangements for the student. From the moment a participant gets off the plane, her adventure starts, and she's surrounded by the Spanish language. It's a great incentive to learning, as the need for language is immediate. Everything out of a book suddenly becomes very real."
Many people assume Language Link is an "exchange" program for high school students, but Rafool said that's far from the case. " There's no reciprocal exchange component, and the ages might surprise you. About half of our participants are 20 to 49 years old, with the average age of 33. Last year, we had 26 students over age 70, and 68 children-most participating with their families."
Rafool was exposed to Spanish at an early age, due to growing up in Brownsville, Texas, which is on the Mexican border. "It had a very culturally mixed environment, flavored with a Mexican style of life. My father was in the shrimp industry, and he did business throughout this hemisphere. International business was the norm around our house. Also, I was greatly influenced by spending all my teenage summers with the Medellín family in Mexico City, an old, aristocratic famil. It certainly stimulated my language skills to attend parties where all my dance partners only spoke Spanish. Fluency in that language became a fascinating project."
After receiving a B.A. from the Latin American Institute of the University of Texas at Austin, she taught Spanish at every level possible-from kindergarten to college-in both Texas and Illinois. "This was followed by forming a company with several superb women partners in which we provided language training for corporations, primarily Caterpillar. I also did some cross-cultural training for other companies. All this led to the formation of Language Link 16 years ago," she said.
Rafool said Language Link's mission is simple: to make these experiences as affordable, trouble free, exciting, interesting, comfortable, and skill-productive as possible. "The business wasn't started with any kind of grand scheme. It just grew in response to need. I first developed a program for Caterpillar executives at a school in Mexico. From this initial experience, I organized and brought a few local groups. Those were so well received that I expanded to a larger market. At this time, Language Link was a part-time enterprise, but the toll free number was appearing in many newspapers and magazines. After coming home one day and finding more than 50 Language Link messages waiting, I knew it had to become a full-time job. I slowly included other schools and countries by making many personal visits."
She said day-to-day work is handled by the assistant director, Christina Henderson, and Rafool helps respond to questions by e-mail and by phone. "Our most amusing one was, 'Can I get acrylic fingernails done in Antigua, Guatemala?' I also manage the larger groups we send from colleges and hospitals, make all advertising and financial decisions, and choose new schools. This involves making trips and visiting the available language schools. I also do ongoing visits to the schools with which we already work for discussions of program development and just to keep in contact. Christina and I both do a lot of handholding. For some people, this is their first foreign travel experience, so we soothe a lot of anxiety and make it easy and pleasurable by handling every small detail."
For now, Rafool prefers to keep the company's focus completely on Spanish. "For a brief period of time, I worked with some French schools, but I quickly realized that my business style hinged upon developing relationships with people in their own language. I couldn't do that with my limited French and just never reached a good rapport. My approach to this business is very personal, and I can't do that if I expand much more. However, if I start getting a lot of requests for study in a new place, I'll make a trip there to explore the possibilities. And I definitely will be ready to offer a program in Cuba as soon as it opens up."
Rafool said only half of one percent of the participants is from the Peoria area. "Out of more than 1,000 participants last year, 5 percent were from Europe, 2 percent from Canada, with the remaining participants from all over the U.S. Our biggest states are California, Texas, Colorado, and Minnesota. Only 4 percent of participants from the U.S. were from Illinois. The most popular destinations are Guatemala, followed by Mexico, Spain, and Costa Rica."
She said Language Link and similar programs are successful because there's immense interest in speaking a second or third language. "Experience has proven that the best way to learn another language is to be completely immersed. By going to another country, the language completely surrounds you and is part of your daily life. We make it easy for people to have those experiences at a reasonable cost-our most inexpensive program is $200 a week for classes and home stay."
Rafool said there are a number of reasons people choose to participate in Language Link. "About one-third go for personal reasons ranging from active travelers or personal enrichment to one who loved the way the women looked on Mexican television. Another third go for work-everything from international businesses such as Caterpillar to the Archbishop of the Diocese of the U.S. Military. A typical call from an executive is, 'Help, I've just been assigned the position of Director of Latin American Sales, and I need to learn Spanish fast!' The last third are those studying to fulfill academic requirements for degrees or other types of certifications."
The best aspect of her career, Rafool said, is feeling really good about what the company offers people, as she knows its value. "Knowing another language has significantly affected my life and my view of the world. To offer this gift to other people and earn an income from it is quite a privilege. Countless times, participants have sent comments such as 'This was a life-changing experience,' 'This was the best thing I've ever done in my life,' and 'You've helped me begin a journey that I hope will never end.'"
Another positive aspect is the opportunity to travel. "I've always had 'itchy feet,' coupled with a deep curiosity," she said. "I see travel as an exercise in trust, discovery, and challenge, and it's a good way to move yourself ahead as a human being. I usually make about five foreign trips a year. One memorable trip was as a guest of the Government of Spain. My most recent trip was to Rome to an international meeting, where I met with all my contacts from Spain. I have special memories of a private party in the Alcázar Palace of Seville, watching the sunrise at Machu Picchu, and even eating lemon ants in the Amazon rainforest with a group of New York college students. I've had marvelous adventures through business travel."
But perhaps the most important element, she said, is the people. "I literally have a world of friends through this work, and they've all taught me about life and our shared commonality."
Rafool said the most challenging aspect of what she does has been the technology. "I've been forced to learn more than I ever imagined about Web sites, desktop publishing, and things such as search engine optimization."
The success of Language Link isn't surprising to Rafool. "I always remember the prophetic quote of John Naisbitt from Megatrends: 'By the year 2000 there will be three dominant languages in the world-English, Spanish, and Computer.' As a Texan would say, I'm smack dab in the middle of all three."
For more information, visit www.langlink.com. TPW
She said the participants, who live with local families while attending school, are anywhere from absolute beginners to professors of Spanish, and they stay from one to 24 weeks. "With just a phone call or e-mail, we make all the arrangements for the student. From the moment a participant gets off the plane, her adventure starts, and she's surrounded by the Spanish language. It's a great incentive to learning, as the need for language is immediate. Everything out of a book suddenly becomes very real."Many people assume Language Link is an "exchange" program for high school students, but Rafool said that's far from the case. " There's no reciprocal exchange component, and the ages might surprise you. About half of our participants are 20 to 49 years old, with the average age of 33. Last year, we had 26 students over age 70, and 68 children-most participating with their families."
Rafool was exposed to Spanish at an early age, due to growing up in Brownsville, Texas, which is on the Mexican border. "It had a very culturally mixed environment, flavored with a Mexican style of life. My father was in the shrimp industry, and he did business throughout this hemisphere. International business was the norm around our house. Also, I was greatly influenced by spending all my teenage summers with the Medellín family in Mexico City, an old, aristocratic famil. It certainly stimulated my language skills to attend parties where all my dance partners only spoke Spanish. Fluency in that language became a fascinating project."
After receiving a B.A. from the Latin American Institute of the University of Texas at Austin, she taught Spanish at every level possible-from kindergarten to college-in both Texas and Illinois. "This was followed by forming a company with several superb women partners in which we provided language training for corporations, primarily Caterpillar. I also did some cross-cultural training for other companies. All this led to the formation of Language Link 16 years ago," she said.
Rafool said Language Link's mission is simple: to make these experiences as affordable, trouble free, exciting, interesting, comfortable, and skill-productive as possible. "The business wasn't started with any kind of grand scheme. It just grew in response to need. I first developed a program for Caterpillar executives at a school in Mexico. From this initial experience, I organized and brought a few local groups. Those were so well received that I expanded to a larger market. At this time, Language Link was a part-time enterprise, but the toll free number was appearing in many newspapers and magazines. After coming home one day and finding more than 50 Language Link messages waiting, I knew it had to become a full-time job. I slowly included other schools and countries by making many personal visits."
She said day-to-day work is handled by the assistant director, Christina Henderson, and Rafool helps respond to questions by e-mail and by phone. "Our most amusing one was, 'Can I get acrylic fingernails done in Antigua, Guatemala?' I also manage the larger groups we send from colleges and hospitals, make all advertising and financial decisions, and choose new schools. This involves making trips and visiting the available language schools. I also do ongoing visits to the schools with which we already work for discussions of program development and just to keep in contact. Christina and I both do a lot of handholding. For some people, this is their first foreign travel experience, so we soothe a lot of anxiety and make it easy and pleasurable by handling every small detail."
For now, Rafool prefers to keep the company's focus completely on Spanish. "For a brief period of time, I worked with some French schools, but I quickly realized that my business style hinged upon developing relationships with people in their own language. I couldn't do that with my limited French and just never reached a good rapport. My approach to this business is very personal, and I can't do that if I expand much more. However, if I start getting a lot of requests for study in a new place, I'll make a trip there to explore the possibilities. And I definitely will be ready to offer a program in Cuba as soon as it opens up."
Rafool said only half of one percent of the participants is from the Peoria area. "Out of more than 1,000 participants last year, 5 percent were from Europe, 2 percent from Canada, with the remaining participants from all over the U.S. Our biggest states are California, Texas, Colorado, and Minnesota. Only 4 percent of participants from the U.S. were from Illinois. The most popular destinations are Guatemala, followed by Mexico, Spain, and Costa Rica."
She said Language Link and similar programs are successful because there's immense interest in speaking a second or third language. "Experience has proven that the best way to learn another language is to be completely immersed. By going to another country, the language completely surrounds you and is part of your daily life. We make it easy for people to have those experiences at a reasonable cost-our most inexpensive program is $200 a week for classes and home stay."
Rafool said there are a number of reasons people choose to participate in Language Link. "About one-third go for personal reasons ranging from active travelers or personal enrichment to one who loved the way the women looked on Mexican television. Another third go for work-everything from international businesses such as Caterpillar to the Archbishop of the Diocese of the U.S. Military. A typical call from an executive is, 'Help, I've just been assigned the position of Director of Latin American Sales, and I need to learn Spanish fast!' The last third are those studying to fulfill academic requirements for degrees or other types of certifications."
The best aspect of her career, Rafool said, is feeling really good about what the company offers people, as she knows its value. "Knowing another language has significantly affected my life and my view of the world. To offer this gift to other people and earn an income from it is quite a privilege. Countless times, participants have sent comments such as 'This was a life-changing experience,' 'This was the best thing I've ever done in my life,' and 'You've helped me begin a journey that I hope will never end.'"
Another positive aspect is the opportunity to travel. "I've always had 'itchy feet,' coupled with a deep curiosity," she said. "I see travel as an exercise in trust, discovery, and challenge, and it's a good way to move yourself ahead as a human being. I usually make about five foreign trips a year. One memorable trip was as a guest of the Government of Spain. My most recent trip was to Rome to an international meeting, where I met with all my contacts from Spain. I have special memories of a private party in the Alcázar Palace of Seville, watching the sunrise at Machu Picchu, and even eating lemon ants in the Amazon rainforest with a group of New York college students. I've had marvelous adventures through business travel."
But perhaps the most important element, she said, is the people. "I literally have a world of friends through this work, and they've all taught me about life and our shared commonality."
Rafool said the most challenging aspect of what she does has been the technology. "I've been forced to learn more than I ever imagined about Web sites, desktop publishing, and things such as search engine optimization."
The success of Language Link isn't surprising to Rafool. "I always remember the prophetic quote of John Naisbitt from Megatrends: 'By the year 2000 there will be three dominant languages in the world-English, Spanish, and Computer.' As a Texan would say, I'm smack dab in the middle of all three."
For more information, visit www.langlink.com. TPW