Founded in San Francisco in 2007, the habla program uses a progressive method to teach Spanish to participants of all learning styles from beginners to intermediates. Lessons, whether in person or via habla audio, are taught using subject matter that's relevant and practical, and by experienced instructors who know how to make learning Spanish fascinating, fearless, and, not least of all: fun.

The habla Difference. Who We Are + Why It Works

Learning a language isn’t difficult. Boring textbooks are difficult. At habla, we know the happy fact that your stern high school Spanish teacher wouldn’t tell you: Spanish is actually fun. Very fun. Even better, it’s easy to learn. Or can be.

At habla, we return to what language learning should be: natural, relevant, and fun. Even effortless. Our inspiration -- and the foundation of our method -- is in how we learn languages as children. Kids don’t strain and struggle to memorize grammar rules and vocabulary. They learn their native tongue by hearing it all around them; by interacting not with distant concepts, but with the world in front of them.

Of course, you’re not a little kid. Babies get away with babbling for a year, but we figure you’d like to sound halfway coherent as soon as possible. So habla combines the immersive, relevant nature of early language learning with an emphasis on the words and phrases you need most, not necessarily the “simple” ones a textbook would start with.

In other words, rather than having you first read a dull book on auto mechanics, we want to start by giving you the keys to the car.

Also, we’re not gonna bore you with dry lists of verb conjugations and sentences seemingly picked from a 1950s reform school handbook. You’ll learn from stories and real-life conversations. You’ll talk about your own life. We’ll get you engaged, and you’ll have a chance to be engaging right back.

habla is for beginners to intermediate learners. Participants who are already good with the basics are encouraged to focus on the more sophisticated structures. For newbies whose Spanish stopped in high school -- or at the local taqueria -- we emphasize all the fundamentals. Meantime, everyone is exposed to something new, and everyone is engaged in learning.

Because we keep things relevant, engaging, and personal, learning Spanish with habla means not only speaking Spanish with confidence, but actually retaining what you learn. While it’s true that our methodology draws on cutting-edge brain research and studies on what leads to long-term language retention, what you actually experience is fun.