How One Woman Is Helping Black Women Become Fluent in Spanish

Kaywanda Lamb, Founder & CEO of Spanish for Black Girls

Kaywanda Lamb loves teaching Spanish. She is the Founder & CEO of ‘Spanish for Black Girls’ a comprehensive language-learning program where students attend her classes to gain the knowledge and expertise that comes with Kaywanda’s fluency in the language. Her success by helping her clientele with their own use of Spanish is a product of her true love for the language that started way before it was taught in her sixth-grade classroom. 

An Appetite For Spanish 

“I remember when I was younger that I was always fascinated by opera even though I couldn’t sing to save my life,” Kaywanda comedically adds about the memory of growing up in Winnsboro, Louisiana watching PBS hearing arias float from her television in languages unspoken in her place on the world map. “I was that weird Southern child that was interested in things that had nothing to do with where I lived. So, when they put us in language classes, I was one of the students who was assigned Spanish. I struggled in the beginning, but my appetite grew from then on.” 

Kaywanda was a natural at grasping foreign languages instantly during her time at Winnsboro High School where she excelled at learning Spanish, French and Latin I-II. This helped Kaywanda as she was then required to take a foreign language course in college for her Business Administration degree the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Here was where she reconnected with her love of learning Spanish and saw how it was used in the arena of international business. This shows the access being bilingual affords those who strive to learn. This prompted Kaywanda to pursue her followed by her Masters in Spanish Literature from Texas A&M University at Commerce. Studying abroad in Costa Rica, the mother of Kaywanda’s guest family told her that when you start dreaming in Spanish is when you are becoming fluent. It wasn’t until her next study abroad session in Peru was when she awoke from a day after having a dream where everyone in it was speaking Spanish. 

“It was surreal,” Kaywanda says laughing about the new speech she could hear in her dream. “It’s like your brain switches over to a new language.” She then speaks on the perspective of learning Spanish from someone who has spoken it their entire life along with what was learned in the classroom. “I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to get to know the people through learning the language. The Spanish-speaking people in Costa Rica and Peru were welcoming as they heard me trying to learn. They were excited that I was trying to learn their language. They loved it.” A much larger truth on the importance of what it means to be bilingual. “I tell people all the time that people are the same all over the world. We all just want to be seen, felt, loved, heard and connected.”  

Spanish for Black Girls 

‘Spanish for Black Girls’ is Kaywanda’s specialty course geared towards assisting black women to become conversationally bilingual within two-and-a-half months’ time. Each lesson gives you the foundations of Spanish that promote the necessity of learning how to ‘speak like a native’ in the office and on the go while traveling. ‘Spanish for Black Girls’ also gives students an exclusive Facebook community where you will be able to share your experiences of learning this new language together. 

“I offer a live course with the pre-recorded material and assessments that help ambitious black women who want to become bilingual actually learn Spanish from the ground up.” Kaywanda further details what sets this comprehensive program. “The one-on-one sessions, where I work with clients one-hour-a-week, are customized to them as well as their business.”

Kaywanda’s language speaks to the woman who represents a large portion of the demographic that continues to make black travel a multi-million-dollar industry. Versatility in style is a major dimension of how we jet set. It is seen in appearance, taste and the ability to communicate with residents to get a truer experience of the country we find ourselves located in at the time. Directly to the authentic spaces to dine, party, see and learn away from the tourist-centric havens that halt real exploration of a place. The vast amount of countries in the world where it is the primary language promotes the need for all people in the black travel community and beyond to be interested in learning Spanish in order to reach their geographic neighbors with similar interests only separated by a difference in speech.   

“Spanish is the closest language on this planet to English. We have the same alphabet and some of our words can be seen in theirs even if the pronunciation differs. Chocolate/Chocolate. Car/Carro. Television/Televisión. These are called ‘cognates’ which means they resemble the other language’s words. For those who have a fear of learning Spanish, not to worry. This language is very easy to learn compared to many others. Plus, it’s the one language that we need here at home. Before there really wasn’t a push for really learning Spanish through most of the South. But now there is a huge rush to do so--and that’s the way it should be.”

Kaywanda Lamb in a session teaching Spanish to one of her clients one-on-one for her company Spanish for Small Business.

The Statistics of Why We All Need To Learn Spanish

There are 43-million Americans speaking Spanish as their first and primary language. That represents 13-percent of the population that most of us are not having conversations with which limits the cultural development for both communities. This rings true especially with our connection with the Afro-Latino community that is often buffered by a collective inability to exchange ideas fluently. It is more than important to be able to communicate in our everyday lives at home as it would be while visiting or living anywhere the language is spoken. Kaywanda’s outlook on why being bilingual is an extremely vital resource for your black travel journeys as well as everyday life.

“Learning Spanish or any foreign language will take you so far--for pleasure, for work, for everything,” Kaywanda says with a smile you can see through the phone. “On the business end, you’re able to negotiate comfortably and independently of a third party speaking for you. It’s ok to be afraid. I tell everyone to try all the language apps out there...” She then starts to laugh before her final statement on the issue. “...and then come over this way when you want someone to teach you for real.”  

For more about Kaywanda Lamb stay posted to the Adventure in Black blog.