Welcome to Lingua Franca Academy, your place for Spanish and English classes! The name Lingua Franca Academy comes from the Latin phrase, "Lingua Franca" meaning "bridge language." Our motto at Lingua Franca Academy is "bridging people through a common language" and that is what we strive to do through our classes. Our method is different from a typical lecture style class. We use a student centered conversational method that puts our students in the spotlight by providing an atmosphere where they do most of the talking. We believe that the best way to learn the language is to practice it from the very first day. Lingua Franca Academy offers Spanish and English classes for adults and children. Additionally, we offer business solutions to corporations which include English classes for employees, Spanish classes and custom intensive courses. Our goal at Lingua Franca Academy is to help our students achieve fluency with a high level of accuracy through engaging classes. We love seeing our students’ progression from not speaking, to losing their fear of speaking to actually speaking the target language! Let Lingua Franca Academy help you achieve your goal of speaking a second language whether it’s for travel, business or personal relationships. Once you become bilingual, your life will never be the same!

"Speak to a man in a language he understands and that goes to his head. Speak to him in his own language and that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela

Lingua Franca Academy was started in July 2011 by Leonela V. Santiago. She is a native Californian but her parents were born and raised in Puerto Rico. She received a BA from UC Davis in Communication with minors in English and Spanish. During college she traveled abroad three times -- once to Costa Rica for a one month volunteer/tour program, once to London for a month long course on Shakespeare and once to Spain for a quarter studying the Spanish language and culture. Upon graduating she moved to Spain where she resided in Madrid for one year and in Santander for the next year. While living in Spain she worked for a prestigious national English teaching company. After returning to the US she worked for the US branch of a Catalan based company in Santa Rosa doing business administration. After a few years of being back in the United States she decided to combine her passion for languages and business into one by opening Lingua Franca Academy. Her goal is to provide Sonoma County residents a language school where they can learn Spanish or English in an enjoyable way while using an interactive method that really gets students speaking!