* Please note that not all current teacher bios are listed below. Inquire for additional teachers' information and experience. Thank you.
Nadia Dorsey - Italian & Spanish
Nadia has been inspiring people through her own passion for language and culture for over ten years. Having traveled to over fifty countries around the world and lived in Spain, Italy and France, she understands what it is like to feel lost in the language chaos of not being able to communicate. Although Nadia comes from a multicultural background, she grew up speaking only English but has acquired fluency in Spanish, Italian and French and proficiency in Arabic and uses these techniques to help others learn languages. Nadia is a cum laude graduate of Duke University and has attended several international language institutions such as the Leonardo Da Vinci Institute in Rome, Italy, the Medici Language Institute in Florence, Italy, the University of San Pablo in Madrid, Spain, and the Sorbonne and the Alliance Francaise in Paris, France. AP Board Certified Teacher*
Tatiana Ramos - Spanish & Portuguese
Tatiana is originally from Manaus, the capital of Amazon in Brazil. She has two sisters, one older who lives in California, and one younger who lives back home with her parents in Brazil. Tatiana first moved to the US in Salt Lake City in 1992 as a foreign exchange student where she lived with an American family and finished a B.A in Anthropology and a minor in Business. She then moved briefly to Colorado and then to New York where she spent 4 ½ years training and teaching language at the prestigious IberoAmerican Institute. It was there that Tatiana not only acquired her teaching expertise but also a great passion for the Spanish language. She honed her skills in document translation and taught courses in Spanish grammar and conversation. In addition to Spanish, Tatiana is also fluent in English, Portuguese and is proficient in French. Living in the culturally diverse environment of New York City allowed Tatiana to use her language skills in a real-life setting and be in close contact with the Hispanic community at large. Tatiana moved to California in 2002 where in addition to working in sales, she continues to work as a language instructor and translator.
Bushra Rafi - French & Arabic
Boushra is originally from Casablanca, Morocco. In 1999 Boushra came to work at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida as a tour guide and as customer service agent. She gained vast cultural experience and knowledge working with people from all around the world on a daily basis. She graduated from Disney and attended Fullerton College and then Cal State Fullerton where she achieved a teaching credential for elementary education. She also enjoyed volunteering teaching at Las Lomas elementary for special needs children in addition to her experience teaching adults French and Arabic. She is fluent in English, French as well as many Arabic dialects such as Egyptian, Khaliji, Lebanese, Syrian among others. Now she is working to achieve her full teaching accreditation.
Morgan McArthur - Portuguese & English
Morgan was born and raised outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. Her love of languages started young when she began learning French at the age of twelve. She continued her study of French and later Spanish throughout her middle and high school years. In 2003, Morgan moved to Honduras for two years and was able to immerse herself in and further cultivate her love of the Spanish language and people. Upon returning from Honduras, she continued her studies at Brigham Young University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Family and Human Development and a minor in Spanish. While finishing her education, she was able to combine her love of languages and teaching for two years as an instructor at an eight week intensive Spanish language program to over 150 students. In 2006, Morgan was granted an opportunity to put her language skills to good use working with a religious and humanitarian group in Paraguay assisting locals with employment placing and a microfinance loans. Morgan moved to Orange County in 2008 and is loving her life here. In her free time, she loves to read, run, play tennis and golf, and travel.
Samara Barnes - Spanish & Portuguese
Samara is originally from Manaus, Brazil. Samara studied English at the Brazil-US Language Institute and upon completion of courses was invited to teach at the institute by the mere age of 15, and did so for 3 years. After graduating high school with a teaching certificate, she briefly attended business school and decided to move to the US to polish her English skills and travel as an exchange student. Samara went on to graduate with a B.A in International Relations and Political Science. She also holds certification in ESL. Her love for traveling has taken her to Europe, where she lived for a summer, as well as to South and North America. Samara loves language and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, French and is in pursuit of becoming a better speaker in Italian. She simultaneously works full time as a 911 dispatcher for an Orange County agency which allows her to use her Spanish skills on a daily basis in common speech as well as emergency situations. Her experience encompasses translating as well as interpreting. She is currently pursuing a license from the state of California in court interpreting and translation.
Erika Gutierrez - Portuguese & English
Erika was born in the State of Bahia, Brazil. Her passion for foreign languages led her to start learning English when she was only 10 years old at Escola Bahiana de Expansão Cultural (EBEC). After learning English for 7 years in the same school, Erika started to teach English and Portuguese for high school students while pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications. Her desire to learn other languages and immerse in other cultures also led her to learn French for four years at La Mason Française in Brazil, and Spanish at Caballeros de Santiago. Upon graduating from college, a few trips to South America and some European countries, she decided to improve her education in the United Stated. In 2007, Erika earned a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration from California State University Fullerton. Currently, Erika volunteers for a nonprofit organization, Boys Town in Santa Ana. She still teaching Portuguese and doing translations. On fall of 2009, she will start the Designated Subjects Teaching Credential in Communication Skills at California State University, Long Beach.
Lorena Marina - Italian
Lorena is a native Southern Californian, but her family comes from Argentina. Her first language was Spanish and she learned English as soon as she entered elementary school. Her great grandparents immigrated to Argentina from Italy, so Italian is already in her blood. After taking a year of Italian at California State University of Long Beach, she fell in love with the language and the culture. In 2004-05 Lorena was accepted into the International Program to study abroad in Florence, Italy where she also attended the Università di Firenze and received a scholarship through the George L. Graziadio Center. She completed her B.A. in Italian Studies and her interest in languages grew, so she began to take courses in Portuguese and German. She is also currently finishing her second degree in Environmental Science & Policy at CSULB. Lorena has many experiences dealing with foreign students of all ages. She has taught ESL at her campus, tutored her peers in Italy, and has been a tour guide for FLS International in Glendora, CA. She has traveled throughout Europe and Argentina. She loves to teach and wants to further her career with her involvement at Spectrum Languages. She is also assisting with the growth of a non-profit organization, Fondazzione Azzurra, which helps to promote the Italian culture throughout Los Angeles.
Roya Yasharpour - ESL & Spanish
Roya Yasharpour has more than twenty five years of experience teaching, training and coaching individuals from various cultures and educational and professional levels. She has trained and taught nationally and internationally. She has a Master.s Degree in Organizational Development, a certificate in Intercultural Communication and a teaching certificate for private schools. Her experience includes teaching at the community college level, substitute teaching at numerous high schools and tutoring foreign students from Asia, Latin America and Europe. Presently, Roya divides her time between tutoring students to learn English, improve their accents, and gain insight into .American. culture, and assisting literacy organizations including those serving immigrant populations, in creating effective training programs for staff and clients.
Indi Avila - Spanish & ESL
Indi Avila grew up speaking Spanish in Miami,FL. Her Cuban family was passionate about raising her to know her heritage language and traditions. She graduated with honors from Georgetown University with a degree in French. She then obtained her Masters Degree in Education from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. Indi served for three years as Director of Studies & Training for a chain of Swiss language schools in Miami where she trained language teachers in the conversational method, taught French, English and Spanish lessons and developed programs for children before moving to California where she now resides. Since 1998, Indi has been teaching languages to both children and adults. Her enthusiasm, creativity and love of languages makes it fun and easy for students to communicate effectively in their new language!
Christian Carnaje - Spanish & Italian & French
Christian Carnaje is a recent graduate of the University of California, Riverside where he earned his Bachelor’s of Arts degree in the Spanish, French, and Italian languages. He has had the fortunate opportunity to live in Europe and experience the diverse lifestyles, interact with the people, absorb the culture, and refine his own language skills in Spain, France, and Italy as well as a number of other remarkable countries. His past travels have strengthened his passion for foreign language and he hopes to instill that into others here at Spectrum Languages. Christian’s love for language has led him to work for his Masters Degree in Dual Language Development in order to pursue his own career as a teacher. He is committed to working with Spectrum Languages and its clients in order to provide the most comfortable environment to learn a new language and enhance their own understanding. He knows that learning a new language is a challenge, but a challenge that does not need to be faced alone, and with patience and some guidance he is excited to work with you in order make your own learning experience far more enjoyable.
Afton Coombs - French
Afton grew up in Orange County before attending the University of California, Los Angeles, as a double linguistics and English major. She has always enjoyed learning other languages, beginning with French when she was 13 years old. She continued to study French throughout college, among other languages. Over the last ten years she has had experience teaching people of all ages, and approaches teaching French with excitement and dedication. She loves being in new places and learning new ways of speaking, and looks forward to someday teaching abroad.
Tara Musich - Spanish & Italian & French
Tara Musich, a southern California native, has had a passion for travel having been exposed to various cultures since the age of 2. Discovering a unique skill during a trip abroad, Tara has since then studied Spanish for 14 years, Italian for 8 years, and French for 3 years. She also looks forward to studying Portuguese, Japanese, and German some day in the future, while always expanding on her current linguistic knowledge. Tara has received over 21 scholarships to attend Foreign Language Immersion programs in Mexico, Costa Rica and Italy in recognition of her scholastic achievements, as well as in return for her administrative and promotional contributions to the programs. She then went on to study Spanish and Italian at the University of California, Los Angeles where she enjoyed the many opportunities to participate in multicultural events and graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors. Since then, Tara has taught and tutored various subjects to families and individuals with her specialty being languages. In June of 2010, she completed a 120 hour certification in Teaching English as a Second Language, and looks forward to teaching abroad in the future
Christina Neal - ESL & Spanish
Christina was born and raised in North Orange County. Growing up with the last name Rodriguez, she always had a healthy curiosity about her heritage and the Spanish language. Beginning in high school, she took Spanish courses, traveled to Spain and other European countries, and practiced her Spanish with those she met, helping other students along the way. Having developed excellent study skills and a fervor for languages, Christina began to help her fellow students with Spanish when she was just 17. She went on to study culture and language at Cal Poly Pomona where she received her BS in anthropology and minor in Spanish and linguistics. She’s studied abroad at La Universidad Pontifícia de Salamanca and La Universidad del País Vasco in Spain. She spent the 2010-2011 school year teaching English at Escola Castell d’Òdena in Barcelona, Spain. She plans to return to school to pursue a master in applied linguistics or education.
Jessica Ramsay – Italian & French
Jessica grew up in Northern California. Her love of languages began in high school where her French studies commenced and since then has never stopped. Jessica's 'études françaises' consist of a BA in French along with a Secondary Teaching Credential in French from Sonoma State University; French literature, history, and translation studies at the Université Paris X in France; and an MSc in Language Teaching from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She has traveled extensively throughout Europe for the past 7 years, living in France and the United Kingdom. Her experiences studying and working abroad has allowed her to fully appreciate worldly cultures and languages and given her fluency in French as well as proficiency in Italian. She can relate to her students, having started her second language acquisition (SLA) in high school, and understands the frustration that arises in pursuit of fluency. Nonetheless, with enthusiasm and determination, Jessica knows the job can be done! When she's not working, she is a passionate equestrian as well as an avid fan of rugby.
Dilsa Ibeth Urriola Delgado - Spanish
Dilsa Urriola is from Panama. She came to the United States in 1999. Dilsa lived in Kansas for eleven years. She graduated from Kansas State University. In 2007, she earned her Secondary Education Degree with an endorments in ESL. This December 2011, Dilsa is planning on finishing her master degree in Second Language Acquisition. As a native Spanish speaker, Dilsa understand the process and importance of learning a second language. She learned to speak English over eleven years ago by observing, listening, and interacting with native English speakers in her community. Over the past seven years as a Spanish language instructor, She discovered that many students benefit from learning a second language when the culture is brought into the classroom. Her experience teaching Spanish to English speaking students has been rewarding because She was able to blend cultural attributes with the curriculum. Many students have benefitted from learning a second language because they had developed the basic language skills necessary for communicating with individuals from other cultures. She also realized that these skills increased the student’s relationships in both professional and personal settings because they had a better appreciation of cultures other than their own. Therefore, Dilsa's goals as a teacher are to increase the student’s confidence in communicating with Spanish speaking persons, encourage them to embrace their knowledge by actively seeking out opportunities to utilize their new language skills, and increase their awareness and acceptance of other cultures.
Martin Valle - ESL & Spanish
I was born in El Salvador and came to the United States when I was 12 years old. Every since I arrived into the United States, I have been learning and experiencing so many cultures and languages that in turned gave me this passion for learning foreign languages. I graduated from St. Mary’s college of California with a B.A. in Modern Languages and I got my masters at the University of California, Irvine. Now, I am pursuing a PhD at UCI in Spanish and Portuguese literature. My reasons for teaching are profoundly rooted on a personal story. My parents were both teachers and I had the great opportunity to experience their joys as mentors. As an undergraduate I worked as an assistant teacher in several school districts in the San Francisco Bay Area. I taught kindergarten, elementary school, and high school, and also English as a second language to adults. More than anything, what I really enjoy besides traveling and horse riding is teaching Spanish. I use the communicative approach that focuses on culture, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. And in addition I use my own holistic individual-teacher-group approach which essential when learning a foreign language.
Hiromi Uchida - Spanish
Hiromi Uchida was born and raised in Orange County. She was exposed to diversity and language from an early age. Her mother is from Costa Rica and her father is from Japan. They were able to fuse their different cultures and Hiromi, along with her two younger brothers, embraced the Spanish language. Hiromi earned her BA from California State University of Fullerton, with a concentration in Entertainment & Tourism Management and a minor in Spanish. Hiromi plans to go back to school and pursue her childhood dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. Teaching and caring for children has come naturally to Hiromi. She finds joy in inspiring and helping children reach out and explore what the world has to offer. Hiromi understands the importance of learning another language and uses her passion for helping children and teaching Spanish daily as the head instructor of Spectrum Languages’ “Español in Motion” after school program at several elementary schools in Orange County. Having a positive impact in their life is a her ultimate teaching goal.