Who we are
Maria Belen Mejia Pape is an artist, teacher, interpreter, translator, activist, and a single mom. She is the owner of Aprender y Jugar Language Program LLC which became a business in 2018. However her dedication to this project started years ago. M. Belen started creating Aprender y Jugar while she was staying at home with her daughter, Juli.
“IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR ME TO SHARE WITH MY DAUGHTER MY NATIVE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE. THROUGH SPANISH STORY TIME, CRAFTS, HISPANIC SONGS AND GAMES, I FOUND THE PERFECT way TO TEACH HER, WHILE BONDING AND HAVING FUN TOGETHER.”
Her passion and love in preserving her mother language as well as traditions and culture allows her to genuinely enjoy while working and teaching children. Maria Belen believes that to learn a second language enhances your life in many ways. M. Belen explains that immigrants keep their native tongue so they don ‘t forget where they come from.
“IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO SURVIVE THE EXILE OF LIVING IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, WITHOUT LOOKING FOR WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED WITH MY ROOTS AND MY NATIVE TONGUE.”
M. Belen was born in Quito, Ecuador. She has a B.A in Journalism and is fluent in 3 languages: Spanish, English and French. Aside from living and working in South America, she also lived about two years in France working with children. M. Belen started learning French when she was 4 years old in an immersion school in Quito.