Children in a Spanish language class at the Tustin Library learn the Spanish words for colors as they play with a parachute.  The free workshop was given by Miliana Languages for Kids at the Tustin Library. 

Children and their parents play with a parachute during a Spanish language workshop by Miliana Languages for Kids at the Tustin Library.  The children were learning the Spanish names for colors. 

Sandra Traver uses props to teach Spanish words to Katie White and other children during a free workshop by Miliana Languages for Kids at the Tustin Library. 

Zerrel searched for materials to help teach her daughter French, but found them lacking.  So she would order books from Canada or buy instructional materials during visits to France.  She began to create her own method of teaching. 

Nine years later, she discovered the Lango Foreign Language curriculum. 

“I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this is the kind of stuff I would have created,’ ” she said. “ I thought maybe there are other parents out there who are struggling, too.” 

Zerrel became a Lango instructor and started her own classes, first through the Newport Mesa Unified School District, and now in Tustin.  Her company is Miliana Languages for Kids, named after a city in Algeria.  The word meant “eager” in Latin, but the meaning was later changed to “full,” she said. 

“I believe for us, in America, to become good world citizens, it is essential for us to learn languages,” she said. 

As a child, Zerrel also learned Latin.  That knowledge helped her with science and French.  She’s hoping to teach Latin in Orange County to give children a better foundation for understanding language. 

“I want to make it interesting for the kids.  If you don’t tell them why, of course it’s going to be boring,” she said.  Zerrel said she’s hoping to impart a love of languages in the children and parents she meets.  She also is hoping to have a successful business and help create jobs as the company grows. 

“A child who learns a language at a young age can master them much better and achieve better scores at school,” she said. 

The hardest part, Zerrel said, is finding teachers who speak both languages, are reliable, and love children enough to act goofy for them. 

“My kid is so embarrassed when I’m teaching,” Zerrel said. “ She doesn’t remember that I used to do that for her. ”ï¿½