Mission
Blend In’s goal is to bring this diverse, vibrant, and colorful world closer together through language and culture, while simultaneously nurturing talent and opening the doors to a successful and differentiated career in foreign and Indian languages.
Vision
Blend In’s vision is to assist and enable language learners to explore their own potential and the plethora of opportunities that careers in languages bring to the fullest. Through our host of professional services we aim to bring value to clients and students across industries all around the globe.
Our Story
As he was pursuing advanced education in the Spanish language, Rahul Sahasrabuddhe felt like he craved a more wholesome experience, a deeper insight into the language. He notice that popular trends of tutelage were somewhat limited to the language and the theory of the language, and that many aspects of a holistic language learning experience were lost. He wanted to learn more about the language in a natural way and cater to his inherent curiosity — one that makes us travelers and explorers intrinsically.
As of early 2016, Rahul was working a full-time job based on his qualification as a civil engineer. But this urge to design and develop a holistic, intercultural experience took over and just six months later, he left his job to establish the Blend In Language Academy.
He has since shared his creative vision with a few fellow linguaphiles who share the same passion for language, learning, and exploration. What started out as a small group of believers and passionate learners has now grown into a beautiful close-knit family of aspiring students, language trainers, translators, interpreters, ex alumni, and language enthusiasts from all over the country.
How We Teach
Firmly believing that language is beyond just words, Blend In shirks the traditional method of teaching for a more inclusive, practical-oriented, and fun formula to language learning. We pay keen attention to each and every student, and the progress of each and every student in the five areas of language study — speech, reading, writing, grammar and technicality, and sensitization to culture, heritage, literature & history. The key to how we do this is the inclusion of innovative games, discourse, entertainment, and challenging exercises.
Every so often you’ll often find us munching on ‘nachos’ and other ‘tapas’ with our students, watching a Spanish or Latin American movie. You will often hear our students, young professionals, school and college-goers alike animatedly performing scenes from movies in Spanish or pretending to be lost in Spain,looking for a job in Argentina, or being a surfboard vendor in sunny Costa Rica. You will also find us helping our students prepare presentations, attempt real-world translation assignments, and interact with guests that we invite from Spanish-speaking countries.
But that’s not all, occasionally you will also find us and our students buried in books, preparing for international language certification exams, and interviews.
Highlights of Our Journey
The Midas Trophy 2018
In December 2018, Blend In Language Services participated in the Midas Trophy of Foreign Languages with a play (Nosotros los Indios — we the Indians)that the students and Spanish language trainers wrote, directed, starred in, and even made the set and costumes for! The best part? They could taste the sweet fruits of their hard work when they won the Best Actor (Jury), Best Script, and the Best Play
Nosotros Los Indios (We the Indians)
In April, Blend In put up a free show of their award winning play Nosotros Los Indios, in an effort to expand the Spanish language community and reach out to fellow language professionals and students. The idea was a great hit with leading newspapers taking a note. Many enthusiasts attended. Full house !!! On the day of the show.
Concurso de Cocina (Cooking Competition)
In January 2018, and 2019, Blend In hosted a cooking competition — ‘Concurso de Cocina’ for students, language trainers and friends. Everyone had to prepare and present a Spanish dish to our judges, Divya More, a Spanish language expert, in 2018 , and Juan y Andres natives from Valencia, Spain, along with Nikhil a celebrated chef from Mexico, in 2019. In January 2020, Blend In organized a ‘Fiesta de Traje’ — a Spanish and Latin American themed potluck for not just students and teachers, but also, this time, Spanish language enthusiasts from all over the city.
Concurso de Poesia y Concurso de Ensayo (Essay and Poetry Competition)
In 2017, 2018 & 2019, Blend In held a poetry competition where some popular and top-rated poems were performed and even composed by students. The students and teachers were reminded of the beauty and depth of Spanish prose and were also able to showcase their poetry writing and recitation skills. The Spanish essay writing competition soon followed, where students, teacher, and alumni were encouraged to submit original essays.
Field Trips,Picnics, and Hangouts
Every year, the Blend In family of Spanish teachers, students, and friends go on a small picnic to enjoy, bond better, and reminisce. In our quest to immerse ourselves in the culture belonging to the language we learn, we occasionally go out ‘tapas bar-hopping’ or on a trip to taste Spanish cuisine all around the city. We also seek out live experiences that will allow us to have a sneak peek into Spanish culture including film festivals, music and dance shows, and meet and greets.
The Blend In Spanish Community: An Immersive Social Experience
With that at the core of its operation, Blend In has established an active national and international community of language enthusiasts having more than 500 members (blend_in_spanish_community). Not only do they share stories and interesting information, but is an active platform of intercultural mingling and authentic knowledge exchange.
Blend In’s successful students
Blend In has enabled many a successful individuals who have gone on to be employed as full time Spanish language experts in prominent companies of the health care, e-commerce, automobile, and software industries. It has also helped students build respectable careers as freelance Spanish translators, interpreters, teachers, and voice over artists. Four of our students and Spanish language teachers have travelled to Spain, and earned prestigious certificates from the world- renowned Colegio de España in the Salamanca province of Spain.