Conversation by: Kylie Cooper Photo By: Lillian Reitz
-What exactly isbrHABLAMOS?
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HABLAMOS is the Coastal Bend’s premier Spanish LanguagebrSchool for adults and children. We offer comprehensive Spanish immersion-basedbrsummer camps, adult Spanish language courses, and Medical Spanish classes.brHABLAMOS also offers professional Spanish translation and interpreting services.
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-How did the initialbridea of opening the school come about?
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My husband and I met in Trujillo, Honduras while bothbrworking as physicians. We moved to Corpus Christi in 2015, and have beenbrraising our four bilingual children to appreciate the Spanish language and theirbrHispanic heritage. As a 3rd generation Mexican-American from Texas, the Spanishbrlanguage has been very important my whole life, both professionally andbrpersonally, and it has opened so many doors and connections. My husband is abrnative immigrant of Honduras, and when we got to Corpus Christi, he feltbrempowered to become a teacher of the Spanish language in the public schoolbrsystem. We as a family wanted to find a way to offer Corpus Christibrsomething it is missing culturally: a professional Spanish Language School. Forbrall those who want to connect to their heritage, or to learn Spanish for theirbrjob, or help their children speak Spanish – given it’s the second most spokenbrlanguage in the world – we have created HABLAMOS.
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-So, you and yourbrhusband decided to take on this journey together. Why do you think it was so importantbrfor you to do it as a team?
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God placed us together on this journey 11 years ago and webrcontinue to try to make a difference, not only for the community but also forbrour church and family.
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-You both worked asbrphysicians before this. What has the transition from physician to teacher beenbrlike for you both?
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I continue to practice OB/GYN in the community as an OBbrhospitalist helping to elevate maternal safety at Bay Area Hospital. My husbandbrhas truly loved coaching soccer and teaching the youth of Corpus Christi aboutbrthe beauty and value of the Spanish language in the public school system whilebrconcomitantly inspiring these teenagers to strive for their best.
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-Why do you thinkbrsomething like this didn’t already exist in our area?
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I believe the demand for Spanish speakers, especially in thebrCoastal Bend, is more prevalent now than it ever used to be.
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-What do you hope thebrschool does for our community?
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We envision that HABLAMOS will help the community relish thebrbeauty of the Spanish language, while allowing everyone to connect on a deeperbrcultural level.
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-How important wouldbryou say it is for others to make it a point to learn languages other than theirbrnative language, and why?
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It is and will continue to be very important to learn otherbrlanguages given the ever-changing demographics of the world. It allows you tobrsee others in a new light, and opens doors that you never knew existed before.
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Contact:
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5702 S. Staples St.brCorpus Christi, TX 78413
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361-239-6562
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hablamostx.com
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@hablamostx
