Cyndi’s American husband lived in France during college and loved it.  Even before their son James was born, they wanted to be a bi-lingual French speaking family.  Cyndi took Spanish in high school, but when she took French as an adult she found it didn’t come easily.  As her experience suggested, research indicates that learning a language as a child is much easier than waiting until adulthood.

When her son was born Cyndi went in search of French classes for him and found…nothing.  There were plenty of resources for Jr. High and High School students, but none for little guys.  The formative years were not going to pass James by.  Cyndi found the company Lango that teaches kids new languages through full immersion classes based music, art, games, stories and movement.  Cyndi became a licensee of Lango and opened Lango Kids Irvine.

Lango Kids Irvine has weekly language classes for kids in French, Spanish and Chinese, all taught by native speakers in a way that kids love.  They are infused with lessons and tidbits on culture.  The classes for kids begin as early as tot and parent classes for those that don’t speak any language yet.  The tot classes focus on songs and rhymes that parents can teach at home.  This year Cyndi began summer weeklong day camps as well and the kids are having a blast.

Cyndi has a background in creating and running a small business.  When her husband was in graduate school in South Dakota she opened a gently used children’s toy and clothing store.  The store expanded to the college market allowing students to upgrade their wardrobes in a rural area without any shopping centers.  Cyndi’s naturally thrifty so the business fit her perfectly.  After Cyndi’s husband graduated and accepted a job offer in California, they sold the store to the local University Business School to be used as a school project for business students.

Cyndi really enjoys the opportunity to be creative in her business.  She has a hand in every aspect from marketing and designing flyers to meeting new people.  Meeting like-minded people, those interested in language, culture and the big wide world is one of the things she enjoys the most.  It gives her access to a host of people outside her usual circle of friends from school or church.

The flexibility of her work is another aspect Cyndi enjoys.  She still considers herself a stay at home mom and 95% of her job is done via email and telephone so she’s still able to be very involved in her son’s soccer/piano/general life activities.  She sets specific working hours and boundaries to keep her life balanced.

When asked for advice for moms Cyndi offered, if you’re thinking about venturing out into working from home and/or starting a business, stick to something you’re passionate about, something you love.  Make it an extension of the family with some aspect the family can do together.   It’s worked well for Cyndi and her French speaking family.