Trilingual Mom Opening New Language School

SouthCoastToday.com:

As a young girl of Austrian descent living in Argentina, Dolores Garcia Laredo de Hirschmann grew up appreciating both South American and European culture, and, along the way, she picked up three languages.

The experience added so much to her life, said Hirschmann, that as a mother of four living in America she has decided to open her own language school this fall.

“It is not just learning another language; you are opening up their minds to the idea that there are other cultures and ways of doing things,” Hirschmann said. “For a 4-year-old, it is a big moment to discover that someone else uses a different word for sugar and means the same thing.”

The school, called Mancha y Gato Language School, will be at St. Mary’s Religious Education Center on Dartmouth Street and will offer classes in Spanish and French for children and adults.

The name Mancha y Gato, Hirschmann said, came from the true story of two wild horses called Mancha (“the spotted one”) and Gato (“the cat”), who in 1925 were ridden 10,000 miles from Buenos Aires to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate the quality of the Criollo horses of Argentina.

“Just like me, the horses crossed borders. I also thought that it would make a fun, funky logo,” Hirschmann said, referring to the paw print on a drop of blue paint.

Photo by kennymatic

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