Frequently asked questions

Speaking Spanish at home is a wonderful foundation — and many of our families do. But most children in London spend 30+ hours a week in an English-speaking world, and one parent can't (and shouldn't have to) carry the whole weight alone. The Spanish Way™ adds what home alone can't: other children who use Spanish, structure, continuity through holidays, and a community — so Spanish stops depending on just one person.

A weekly session is a wonderful start — it builds the structure of the language in your child's brain. But on its own it isn't enough to make Spanish an active part of everyday life. That's exactly why we stopped offering standalone classes and built a full system: the weekly Lab plus your home, the holidays and the community, working together.

Ages 0–7 are the golden window for languages — young brains absorb sound and structure effortlessly. Toddlers who mostly observe are absorbing too. And if your child already understands Spanish but answers in English: you're not late. That's one of the most common starting points in our groups.

Absolutely — many of our families don't speak Spanish at home. The Home Immersion™ pack and Your Bilingual Journey™ are designed so you never need to translate anything: the story comes narrated in Spanish, and the guide for doing it at home is written for your level — including none at all. We make it easy; you make it consistent.

You still receive that week's material at home, so nothing is lost. The system is designed so that one missed session never breaks the continuity — that's the whole point of having more than a class.

Small groups, always — maximum 10 children. Enough to create real interaction between children in Spanish, small enough for every child to be seen.

Not at all. Observers absorb too — comprehension always develops before speech, and many children go through a completely normal 'silent period'. We never push a child to perform: even in the final week, the group sings the term's favourite songs together — never a child alone.

Our sessions are led in clear, warm, standard Spanish that every Spanish-speaking family recognises — with songs and stories from both sides of the Atlantic. Children raised bilingual understand la abuela in Madrid and el abuelo in Buenos Aires just the same.

You'll see it, not guess it: the completed themes marked off at the end of each Home Immersion™ pack, the growing vocabulary checklist, the small signs we teach you to notice — she hums the song, he answers 'sí', she asks for agua — and the Bilingual Journey Check-In™ at the end of each term. Your Bilingual Journey™ tracks your family's path term after term.

Never a week without Spanish is our founding principle. Half terms are covered with Holiday Immersion™ — a live online session with the group, recorded so nobody misses it — and the summer with camps and the Immersion Shelf™. Spanish doesn't stop, so nothing gets forgotten.

No. Nothing you've built disappears — the Immersion Shelf™ keeps Spanish alive at home between terms, and the Journey remembers exactly where your family is. You rejoin the path where you left it.

Sessions are led by Sara, a qualified Early Years teacher from Spain with over ten years' experience, and Félix, who brings a background in education and psychology — together with the rest of the Shaping Little Minds team, running immersion sessions for London families since 2022.