Niche Language, LLC, a newly formed EdTech language software company, has launched Learn Kitchen Spanish (LKS), the first-to-market online educational platform that helps chefs, cooks, and kitchen managers achieve their professional goals through language and communication.
Founders Glenn Westman and Tim Coleman created LKS after learning about the communication barriers that are consistent in kitchens across the country. The idea was born when one of Westman’s friends, a chef who was interviewing for an executive chef position, needed to have Spanish fluency in order to qualify for the job. Westman quickly realized there is a huge need to be bilingual in kitchens and saw the lack of resources available within the industry.. In the fast-paced back-of-house world, communication is essential and when team members have a language barrier, the potential for errors is endless.
Westman, a chef and linguist himself, teamed up with his business partner, Coleman, fellow linguist, teacher, and counselor, to create the LKS language program – specializing on those who work in the restaurant industry to help them advance their career opportunities.
Learning a new language is not only difficult, but it can be intimidating and tedious as well. Add to that life responsibilities such as work and family makes the task and process even more complicated.
“We created Learn Kitchen Spanish with the challenges of a cook’s daily life in mind. Creating an e-learning language program that is focusing on the skill sets a student needs to coincide with their profession equips them with the tools for immediate gainful employment and higher positions”, says co-founder Glenn Westman.
“The curriculum is designed for restaurant staff to communicate efficiently and cohesively. The communication and useful skill will lead to fewer mistakes, help reduce waste, increase efficiency and provide a safer work environment for all team members within the establishment”, says co-founder Tim Coleman.
LKS launched with Beginner Level; Intermediate and Advanced Levels will follow in the near future. Each level will contain approximately 3 hours of lessons and many hours more of vocabulary practice in the form of digital flashcards and verb charts. Since the instruction is focused on each students’ specific needs, LKS has simplified the learning process while making it relevant and meaningful.
The methodology is designed to teach students the patterns of sentence structure in Spanish through the lessons. Once these patterns are understood, the language learner need only place different vocabulary from the lists into those patterns to create new sentences. Each lesson is approximately 10 minutes long, making it convenient for the student to listen to their lesson while commuting to work and practicing aloud without the judgement they may feel in front of a classroom. And as always repetition is encouraged until the lesson is fully mastered.
The LKS team is dedicated to building a global community of kitchen workers and will continue to fine-tune the program to address the students’ evolving needs. As a member of the LKS community, students will receive value-added support, and extracurricular lessons to achieve learning success. In the future, LKS plans to roll out cooking demonstrations to engage the students within their field such as making a recipe in Spanish.
Currently LKS is offering their program at a special rate of $109 (regular price $167) for early adopters from now through October 21st.
