Hispanic Heritage Month, lasting from September 15 through October 15, celebrates U.S. citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America, and their influence on history, culture and contributions to the United States. At the Koffman, we’re recognizing Colombian entrepreneur and lecturer in Binghamton University’s Romance Languages and Global Studies departments Marisol Marcin, Ph.D. — with big plans to upend the way we learn a new language and thus experience another culture. 

Marcin is the founder and CEO of Lenguas Club. Founded in 2020, the company’s ultimate goals are to help people speak the language they’re studying and make people more aware of the world through learning a new language. With personal experience as a language learner combined with over 20 years of experience as a teacher, she knew there was a better way to both teach and learn languages while also developing stronger connections.

“I studied English in Colombia, where I had to memorize vocabulary and verb conjugations. So, when I came to the United States, I knew that I had vocabulary and grammar, but I didn’t know how to use the language,” Marcin explained. “When I started teaching my students Spanish [in New York schools], I noticed that we were teaching the same way and I knew that there was a better way. Lenguas Club came from the need of teaching language in a better way so that all the people who study a language can actually speak and use it.”

Lenguas Club currently offers learning options for Spanish and English, both virtually and online depending on the program. In the future, Marcin is looking to incorporate Mandarin.  

“I am a native Spanish speaker, I knew I had that advantage there,” said Marcin regarding why Lenguas Club started by offering Spanish, “and because Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States. So it made sense that we use this language as a bridge. Then, we incorporated English, [which is] needed both outside and in the United States. So, those two became the logical beginning and then Mandarin will be the next language because I think that there is a big need for Mandarin as a language of usage.”

The purpose of learning a new language should be considered when creating that learning environment; whether it be for travel, social, professional or educational purposes. Lenguas Club’s current service offerings are centered around the type and intention of the learners to set themselves apart from their competition.  

• Language Club – for the everyday person looking to learn another language. This service is broken down into four options for a variety of learners’ needs.
• Spanish for Schools – bringing Spanish directly into the classroom with full teaching toolkits for educators to immerse their students in the language. 
• Professional Development (PD) Club – for language educators to help empower them to best support multilingual learners.
• Business Club – providing tailored Spanish language training programs for employees, business communication and business needs.

These services are just one part of what makes Lenguas Club different from traditional language learning and the plethora of language learning apps and websites on the market. 

“The main difference [compared to] any other online platform is that we have people,” Marcin explained. “Most people who study [with online platforms] are trying to learn the language, they are learning to ultimately communicate with people. So we put people at the beginning of each learning track so language and social skills are developed from day one.” 

“I think that even with in-person education, we collaborate well because we bring the world into that classroom,” Marcin continued. “Our teachers [natively] speak the language, so it creates a social space for the students. In this setting, students are figuring out real quick how to use the tools they have to communicate, which is what we wanted to do in the end.” 

Marcin offers this example of students learning about animals from her Colombia-based instructors. Instead of listing the different animals and how to pronounce their names in Spanish, instructors showed students their pets and the different animals of Colombia. To further this and get the students speaking, they were encouraged to share details about their own pets.

Currently, Lenguas Club instructors and students are located in New York and Colombia. Marcin also hopes to expand in the U.S. as other schools on the East Coast begin operations with Lenguas Club. Those interested in becoming either a learner or instructor should contact Marcin directly through the Lenguas Club website. Marcin recruited her current instructors directly from Latin America through a partnership with the renowned Instituto Caro y Cuervo. 

Marcin’s entire business, from learning a language differently to sourcing native speakers as instructors, lends itself to widespread cultural impact and influence that resonates with the mission behind Hispanic Heritage Month.  Even her first mentor, Antonio (Tony) Frontera, is able to recall Marcin’s palpable excitement and inspiration towards change upon their first meeting at the Koffman.  

“What stood out to me when I first met Marisol was her excitement about helping others and not so much about the business side. In other words, making money was not the main concern, but solving what she saw as a problem was,” said Frontera, entrepreneur in residence at the Koffman. “Entrepreneurs are full of ideas and want to do everything, one of the things I do as a mentor is help the entrepreneur focus their time and energy on launching that first product or service. Lucky for me she is very coachable and listens to what I have to say, takes it in, and then makes her own decisions. This is a good dynamic between mentor and entrepreneur. I continue to work with Marisol because of her energy, enthusiasm, and vision of where she sees her business many years from now.”

“Marisol came to the Koffman already being a professor and holding a doctorate in language. When she explained her idea of how to bring language education to people around the world, we knew she was onto something big,” said Eric Krohn, director of business incubation programming at the Koffman. “Over the last few years, Marisol has been a devoted student of our programs and has built an amazing educational company that serves both individuals as well as schools and businesses. For any person or school district looking to utilize modern language studies, Lenguas Club is the most exciting and natural solution around!”

Marcin credits the Koffman with giving the entrepreneurial side of herself a family and plenty of opportunities. This includes networking, solutions and a general sense of understanding any issues she might face in her business journey. 

As for what’s next for Lenguas Club, in addition to the expansion of more languages, Marcin hopes it will serve as a model for language learning education in the future that can be adopted by any institution or organization in need of effective language educationThis starts with the aforementioned expansion of languages and includes reaching more schools and businesses nationwide and beyond. Marcin also plans to crowdsource destinations for a Latin American trip so learners can put their speaking abilities to the test first-hand.

“When you have one language, you have one set of lenses through which [you see] the world,” Marcin explained. “When you get a second language, you get a new set of lenses that are going to allow you to see your world in a new way. [Those languages are] also going to open you to seeing worlds that you didn’t know existed. They say that people who learn a new language gain a new soul.” 
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