Cultural Bytes

Señora Jackie has an amazing program with Cultural Bytes! She is passionate, knowledgeable, personable, energetic, and FUN! She understands language development/​immersion and has created a high quality program. As a bilingual educator and mother to 3 bilingual children, I see first-​hand that Cultural Bytes is a unique immersion program! Hopefully she can expand throughout Los Angeles soon as this is a very special program with quality classes and camps!

Señora Jackie is an outstanding teacher with an amazing program. Both of my children had bad experiences with Spanish in their after school programs. So much so that they were almost against doing any form of Spanish class anywhere. It took a little convincing to get them to go to Cultural Bytes but after only one class they were hooked. The fully immersive program with a positive attitude toward learning is the formula for success. After only four classes my kids may hit be fluent but they comprehend Spanish far better than I could after two years in high school. It’s an amazing program and I’m even considering their summer school program.

Very happy with the outcome of Cultural Bytes winter camp! My son was sad to see it end. Great teachers, creative crafts, fine and gross motor activities, and daily rewards are all highly recommended. Definitely will continue to attend the classes.

I am so happy that I enrolled my 4.5 year old in Cultural Bytes Winter Camp. We were sad when it was over, but he is excited to begin attending Saturday classes. As others have said, Señora Jackie is a gem, enthusiastic about the program, spirited and supportive with the kids, and professional with the parents. The teachers during Winter Camp were wonderful. The activities were fun and he made nice friends. In two weeks, my son is more confident in his Spanish speaking abilities and now speaks to me in Spanish without being prompted! It’s exciting to see the results of an immersion class and I look forward to the progress he will make, and the confidence he will develop, during the Saturday classes. I highly recommend.

We were looking for a Spanish program for our 2 boys and were given Señora Jackie’s contact information there at Cultural Bytes. From the first visit to the Spanish Camp, we knew it was exactly what we were looking for! Our boys felt very comfortable with the other students and by the end of the visit, they were asking when they would be coming back! Señora Jackie is professional, and has a wonderful energetic personality. Our boy’s teacher, Mrs. Valentina, is incredibly patient, very kind and makes learning Spanish so much fun for the kids! Spanish Theatre Camp just ended and the students were part of a wonderful play. We are looking forward to returning after winter break!
Gracias Cultural Bytes and see you soon! Definitely recommend it!
12−15−15

My 8 y.o. son just finished Spanish Camp with Cultural Bytes and I couldn’t be happier! I could write a whole book on all the things Cultural Bytes is doing right! First of all, the atmosphere is friendly, welcoming, positive and encouraging. It takes into account each individual child’s developmental stage, personality, and needs. The learning takes place primarily in the context of play and FUN. We are definitely planning to have him attend next camp!
My child is a slow to warm up type and it usually takes him a while to get comfortable in camp, but after day one, he was ready to go back! I was so glad and surprised! I couldn’t believe how motivated he was to practice at home.
The Camp hours are great for a working parent (8 – 5) with before and after care available. And for what you get, I believe it is a fantastic bargain.
And finally, the Director, Señora Jackie is a gem! She has passion, vision, intelligence and her enthusiasm is contagious.
The only down side I’ve observed is that it ends at 12 years old, I’m hoping in time, they’ll get it going through high school.

My two children — a second-​grader and a first-​grader — will be attending Spanish summer camp in Glendale for their third year this year (2015).
They love Spanish Camp and have asked two years in a row now to attend all of the sessions (pre-​camp, camp & post-​camp). They say it is fun, that they like the teachers, like the other kids, and like to learn Spanish.
At their age, I’m not sure that my kids are the very best students… but they are definitely developing a love for the language and appreciation of the latin culture which comes along with the camp experience. They do have the firm belief that learning Spanish is fun and worthwhile… which will serve them well in the future.
Señora Jackie is passionate and dedicated the pursuit of learning languages and experiencing other cultures. The teachers and staff in our experience have been nothing but caring, considerate, and conscientious.

Señora Jackie and the teachers at Cultural Bytes have guided my resistant foreign language speaking (Spanish) 8.5 year old daughter into being an excellent Spanish speaker!
She didn’t want to attend at first, but after our insistence that she speak a foreign language, she really is proud to know how to speak it.
She has been taking it through the program for 3.5 years, since Kindergarten.
The 4 week all day immersion summer camp pushed her knowledge into a new realm and she now understands it almost everywhere we go. We have done 2 years of the summer program and I am delighted with the results.
This program really works if you stick with it and don’t entertain your child’s whims of being tired of the class – we just said it had to happen and we are now seeing the amazing results-​our 8.5 year old already has an incredible asset: she speaks Spanish!

I’m very grateful for the Cultural Bytes program. My daughter has been a Spanish student for 2 years and thoroughly enjoys attending class whether it be after school, on Saturday or during Winter or Summer break. She now enjoys watching cartoons and listening to music in Spanish! Truly amazing!

Señora Jackie and her team engage their students and think «outside of the box» in their offerings. They are involved in the community, partner with local businesses and offer strong programs in many languages. A definite go-​to company for innovative, full– immersion language education.

My son and daughter attended the Cultural Bytes summer camp. Although the adjustment to total immersion was difficult during the first week, they both progressed tremendously with their spanish after 4 weeks. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and the program is well structured. Overall my kids enjoyed their time there. I still hear them singing some of the songs they learned at camp, and my daughter ended up transferring in to a spanish immersion school the following school year. The Director, Señora Jackie is thoughtful and enthusiastic about teaching. She and her staff are loving and encouraging but firm, which creates a great learning environment. Along with the songs, the teachers incorporate games and lots of activities for learning, taking every opportunity as a teaching moment. My only complaints are about the clarity of the length of the program. We signed up and paid 4 weeks not realizing that there were other options. Lastly, the outdoor play area (Glendale) was suitable for little ones but a bit lacking for ages 6 and up. I would definitely recommend the program to anyone interested in language immersion.
We are hoping to bring Cultural Bytes to our year round school in the near future.

I have organized many after school programs for my kids two different schools and I can honestly say this company ranks in the top for their professionalism. If there happens to be a hiccup, it is listened to (no excuses), addressed and corrected. I have received many positive responses from parents and other volunteers.
My daughter has been enrolled in this class and after a few weeks showed a passion that I am honestly shocked at. She is upset that I made her name with so many «r’s» that she has to roll when pronunciating in spanish class but besides that she is full of compliments :)
The owner, Jacki, is very accommodating and supportive of the schools that I have worked with. She has a passion for her job and a pride of ownership that is apparent in her dealings with parents and students.
I highly recommend Cultural Bytes-​I am very happy :)

I agree with the other two 5 star reviews in terms of passion and vision behind the program. My child did not enjoy the after school program which was, by my observation, poorly managed and chaotic. There were 15 – 20 kids ranging in ages from 4 – 10 crammed into a small classroom with two individuals over the age of 18 overseeing them. We pulled out of the after school program after only attending 2 classes. Our child also did not like one of the male instructors in particular (who coincidentally, was no longer there after the week we pulled out). No questions asked, no refund requested, and no refund offered.
As for the other programs, the Saturday school and Summer camp. This was our experience:
Saturday: Fine, because it was fun and enjoyable for our child who was willing to go to «school» on a Saturday from 9am — noon. The teachers (again, adults over the age of 18) were friendly, nice, mature, and kept the kids entertained in the target language. There is not alot of separation between different ages and levels, which is good and bad. The director and her husband were visible and present.
Summer Camp: A meld between the after school program and Saturday school. The hours are great because they encompass the entire working day and per the vision and mission of the program everything is conducted in the target language. From what I saw, it was alot of play, and probably necessary due to a very long day. Again, no separation between ages and ability.
While the director is passionate about the program and the staff are mature and responsible, there are some classroom control issues and being able to manage a large and diverse group of children. (Please note that these children are well behaved to begin with.) Our child had two accidents at the summer camp over a 3 day period. They were truly accidents in that no one was pushed, shoved, chased, being bullied, or intimidated. However, in the second incident, our child ended up with a large facial scar and a puncture on the top of the head that required a trip to the urgent care and a staple to be put in. The instructors did not notice the head injury, infact, no instructor even saw the incident. The director was not on the premise and also did not see.
There was no incident report, and we only received a couple of written statements over email after we had repeatedly asked over the phone, over email, and in person for a report. They were from two of the instructors who basically said that they saw nothing. We have had people tell us to sue, to get a full refund, to do all of these things that would probably put them out of business. All I can say is that the good intentions are there… but that isn’t enough to run a program. And it certainly isn’t a place where I would entrust them with the safety of my child or anyone else’s.
Needless to say, after those experiences, we pulled our child out and will not be going back.
(AND NO, WE DID NOT GET A REFUND FOR THE SUMMER PROGRAM EVEN THOUGH WE WERE PROMISED ONE BY THE DIRECTOR)

Cultural Bytes has a terrific program for elementary school students. They use a variety of learning tools including music and art. This makes acquiring a new language fun and easy for young children. They have offered classes at our school for several years and it is a very successful program!

I was very pleased with the program Cultural Bytes had to offer. The teachers were knowledgeable, passionate and kind. The teaching methods were also effective and fun for the kids. I was impressed with my son’s ability to pronounce and articulate the language learned in his lessons. I highly recommend Cultural Bytes to any parent interested in having their child learn a second or third language.