No Time Like Present to Awaken the Spanish Within You
August 29, 2003
There is no better time to learn Spanish than right now.
At least that's the way Lisa Zajur, director of the Spanish Academy and Cultural Institute, sees it. Hispanics are now the largest minority in the country, and they pump $460 billion a year into the U.S. economy, $6 billion right here in Virginia. Hispanic-owned businesses in the commonwealth are expanding at the rate of 39 percent per year.
Zajur is acutely aware of recent figures, but she has been aware of the need for the two cultures to understand each other for two decades, beginning when the native Richmonder married into husband Michael Zajur's large Hispanic family. "I wanted to understand what my mother-in-law was saying," she laughed.
She began learning the language immediately and has been studying and teaching Spanish ever since. Now she wants all Hispanics and non-Hispanics to understand one another. In 1994, she founded a bilingual preschool. In 2000, she founded her academy and a three-level program called "Awaken the Spanish Within," which is based upon accelerated learning that emphasizes similarities between the two languages. The academy also offers English as a second language at the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a two-year-old organization of which her husband is president and CEO.
In 2002, she received the Star Award for small business ownership from the Richmond council of the American Business Women's Association.
She also recently teamed with the University of Richmond's School of Continuing Studies to offer personal enrichment courses (Going to Spain or Mexico on vacation?) and tailor-made bilingual courses for such industries as banking, hospital, construction, hotel, restaurant and international travel. Programs also can be tailored for law firms, educational institutions, law enforcement agencies and others. Call the University of Richmond at (804) 289-8133 or the Spanish Academy and Cultural Institute at (877) 273-0248 for information.
Several Richmond banks have hired Zajur's company to teach tellers how to communicate with Hispanic customers and report increases in both numbers of customers and in understanding of one another.
Poplar Springs Hospital in Petersburg sent its entire staff to her academy. The institute taught Hispanic language and culture to representatives of McKinney and Co., an architectural firm based in Ashland that won a $3 million contract to build a superhighway in Mexico. The academy also helps HR departments with orientations and translating application forms.
Zajur says the academy was built on its mission to "promote and share the Spanish language and culture through enriching educational classes and programming" and that her goal and mission is to "unite the community at large" and to "make everyone feel comfortable."
"I try to stress to our participants that learning Spanish is a journey. Richmond has become home to many Hispanics and my goal is to help Richmonders embrace the Hispanic community through education in understanding the culture and learning Spanish. Communication and education are the keys to living together effectively."