Portal Languages Long Beach

My name is Patricia Hickok and I am the director of our new school location in Long Beach.

I am a graduate of Cal State University Long Beach and have a bachelors degree in Liberal Studies/Psychology. I was a preschool teacher and taught ESL (English as a Second Language) at Purche Elementary in Gardena. I am fluent in Spanish.

My mother was born and raised in Peru where she was a teacher and studied English. She came to the United States and taught Spanish. When she married my father, they sent for my grandmother. She cared for my brother and I since birth which is very common in the Latin culture. Our Abuelita did not speak English so Spanish was our first language.

Being raised billingual was a gift. I was rarely able to apply my 2nd language to my career. This is one of the reasons I am so excited to be opening a language school.