For anyone interested in learning or interacting in another language, two local organizations can now be found under the same roof.
Language South and the Chattanooga School of Language now operate in a shared space at the Chattanooga School of Language location, 4122 North Access Road.
“Our family could not be happier about Language South moving into the Chattanooga School of Language campus,” said Debbie Ingle, whose daughter has participated in the Language South Spanish camp and Multilingual Lending Library and currently takes Spanish classes at CSL. “We utilize both organizations, so their combined address is a big win! We are grateful that CSL and Language South are making it even more convenient to learn a new language.”
Language South is an educational organization in Chattanooga that offers experiential language-learning opportunities to young people in the surrounding region. El Pueblo Spanish Camp is Language South’s flagship program, an overnight language immersion camp for young people in kindergarten through 11th grade.
Founded in 2018 by Emily and Teo Valdés, Language South has served 106 young people through its Spanish immersion summer camps. Language South offers a six-night main camp for kids and teens currently in 3rd through 11th grade, and a three-night mini camp for kids currently in elementary school. They have also offered programs that are targeted to adult learners.
In addition to their Spanish Main and Mini Camps, Language South is launching an English Immersion Day Camp this spring for current sixth, seventh and eighth grade English Language Learners.
“Our mission is to inspire and develop lifelong learners and lovers of languages and cultures,” explained Paige Moffett, operations manager and camp director of Language South. “We felt that by moving into the same space with Chattanooga School of Language, we are only going to be able to expand that mission and have a greater reach. I love being around so many other language learners and educators.”
For CSL Founder and Director, Laurie Stevens, the move was a no-brainer. “It just makes sense to have our organizations in the same building because of the complementary services we offer,” she said. “Together, we are able to offer even more robust, comprehensive language-learning services and opportunities to the community.”
Emily and Teo were a part of the Chattanooga School of Language team as language teachers for three years until they decided to pursue full-time their long-time dream of opening and running a Spanish-language summer camp for young people in Chattanooga.
Even though no longer teaching at CSL, Emily and Teo still remained close supporters of CSL, and the two organizations have partnered on many efforts, including community events and language programs, and continue to share a passion to spread the love of language learning to others in the community.
In their new space, Language South displays their growing Multilingual Lending Library, which currently has more than 350 multilingual books for people to check out and borrow. CSL is helping them expand their mostly Spanish collection with books in additional languages, including German, Portuguese, Chinese, French and more.
CSL students and Language South campers receive free membership, and the public can join for a small fee. For more information about borrowing books in the language you are learning, visit the “More Fun Stuff” page at www.languagesouth.com.