Sam Kelly of SJ Languages: How to Turn Adult Classes Into an Experience People Want to Keep Coming Back To
One of the most interesting things about adult classes is that the learning itself is only part of the reason people stay.
The strongest businesses often create something around the class too: routine, confidence, friendship, community and a sense of belonging. That came through really strongly in my conversation with Sam Kelly, founder of SJ Languages, who delivers relaxed, practical Spanish classes for adults in Norwich, Beccles and online.
Sam is a finalist for Adult Class Provider of the Year, sponsored by Barbara Allen from Lingoform, at The Class Business Awards 2026, and her story is a brilliant example of what can happen when you stop trying to make adult learning fit a traditional classroom model.
The business didn’t start where it ended up
Sam didn’t set out to build an adult Spanish business. She had been a school teacher specialising in French and Spanish, but left teaching because she wanted more flexibility while helping care for her nan. At first, she tried a bit of everything: one-to-one tutoring, GCSE and A-level support, handwriting, study skills, supply teaching and first aid training.
Her GCSE provision actually became very successful, and within her first year in business she was recognised nationally for her online tutoring. But during that same period, Sam’s brother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia and sadly died a few months later. While dealing with that grief and trying to keep the business going, she found that planning her existing academic work had become much harder.
The adult classes gave her something different.
She suddenly had the freedom to ask a much simpler question: what do these people actually need to know?
Sam said:
“I could create the course that I wanted.”
Rather than following traditional textbooks, she began teaching the Spanish British adults were more likely to need on holiday or in everyday conversations, including the language people actually hear rather than only the formal textbook version.
That freedom became the basis of SJ Languages as it exists today.
Build around what adult customers actually need
Adult learners come with very different pressures from children. They have jobs, families, illness, holidays and caring responsibilities, so rigid course structures do not always fit real life.
Sam realised early on that the traditional language-school model of an eight or ten-week course followed by the next level wasn’t right for her customers. Instead, learners typically begin with a beginners course, move into “Next Steps” and then join her ongoing Spanish Club membership.
That means people can continue learning without feeling they have to reach some artificial finish line.
The membership is also flexible. If somebody misses a session, Sam can send resources and a WhatsApp voice note or help them attend another class. That approach recognises something every adult-class provider needs to remember: flexibility is part of the product.
It has also helped create excellent retention.
As Sam laughed:
“I’ve been told by quite a few that I’m stuck with them now.”
Today she has 55 regular adult learners, six classes running in Beccles, a sold-out Norwich class and further demand waiting behind them.
Remove the things that make people nervous
One of my favourite things about SJ Languages is where the classes happen.
There is no school classroom, no PowerPoint and no projector. Sam deliberately holds sessions in cafés, wine bars and hotel spaces because she wants the environment to feel social before the lesson has even started.
That matters because many adults arrive carrying memories of language learning at school, and not all of those memories are positive.
Sam wanted to remove that feeling completely.
People can grab a coffee, a glass of wine or something to eat, settle in and start chatting. The environment tells them this is not an exam and nobody is about to test them.
That changes the emotional experience of learning.
For any adult class provider, there is a useful question here: does your environment reinforce the experience you are trying to create, or work against it?
Turn the class into something bigger
Sam has also built events around the core teaching offer.
Her learners attend summer and Christmas socials, Spanish wine-tasting evenings, bingo events and games nights. She has even created a Cluedo-style game set in a villa in Tenerife.
The clever part is that these experiences are still doing the same job as the lessons. People are practising Spanish, but they are doing it in situations that feel relaxed, useful and memorable.
Her “Sip and Speak Spanish” event, for example, combines wine tasting with language learning, giving people vocabulary around flavours, smells and colours while they enjoy the social side of the evening.
That creates additional revenue opportunities, but it also makes the core offer much stickier.
The class becomes part of a wider lifestyle and community.
Partnerships can make the experience stronger
Sam’s venue choices also create useful local partnerships.
In Beccles, she works with a café and wine bar owned by the same people. They provide the space, and during special events the venue can supply food and drink while Sam provides the Spanish experience. Her Norwich classes use a hotel bar where learners can eat beforehand or order drinks during the session.
Those partnerships help everybody.
Sam gains an atmosphere she could not easily recreate in a formal classroom, the venues gain customers and exposure, and learners get a more enjoyable experience.
The same relationships also support marketing because venues can share Sam’s classes with their own audiences.
It is a good reminder that growth does not always have to mean doing more yourself. Sometimes the strongest opportunities come from finding businesses that already have the environment, audience or resource you need.
Community is one of the strongest retention tools
Perhaps the biggest thing Sam has built is the community between the learners themselves.
Some of her original students from early 2024 are still attending. They arrive early to catch up, have WhatsApp groups, meet for coffee outside the classes and support each other through the highs and lows of life.
Sam talked about learners checking in with each other through illness, family difficulties and other life events. She has also seen the confidence that attending regularly can give people who may not otherwise have much social interaction.
As she put it:
“It’s not just a language class.”
And I think that is the real lesson from SJ Languages.
People may initially book because they want to order confidently in a Spanish restaurant or feel less nervous on holiday. They stay because they enjoy the class, the people and how the experience makes them feel.
Don’t be afraid to let the business evolve
Sam’s business today looks very different from the one she started in 2023, and she is quite open about that.
She followed the demand, noticed what she enjoyed delivering and listened to the way her customers wanted to learn. She has moved towards memberships, events, local partnerships and a stronger in-person community because those are the parts of the model that are working.
There are now even ideas around taking groups to Spain so learners can practise their Spanish in real-life situations with Sam there to support them.
For me, that is one of the strongest business lessons in her story. You do not have to know exactly what your business will look like five years from now. You need to pay attention to what customers value, what creates results and where the energy in the business naturally sits.
Watch the full interview
In our full conversation, Sam shares more about her journey from teaching to self-employment, how her adult Spanish classes evolved, why she moved to a membership model, the importance of social experiences and how she has built a community of learners who genuinely do not want to leave.
👉 Watch Sam Kelly’s full finalist interview here.
Sam is a finalist for Adult Class Provider of the Year, sponsored by Barbara Allen from Lingoform, at The Class Business Awards 2026.
Join us at The Class Business Live on Saturday 10 October 2026 at the National Conference Centre in Solihull, where we’re bringing together class business owners, finalists, judges and sponsors for speakers, mastermind conversations, practical ideas and sector networking from 9:00am to 3:00pm.
Then from 6:00pm, we move into The Class Business Awards & Afterparty for a brilliant evening celebrating the people and businesses creating incredible experiences through classes, clubs and activities.
