hello
こんにちは
hola
你好
bonjour
buongiorno
tag
bom dia
привет
안녕하세요
أهلا
hujambo
We’re a partnership of language lovers and linguists who create ways to make language learning simple, fun and accessible to everyone. We’ve spent decades developing language courses, teaching, and training language teachers in different methods for large corporate trainers, smaller language schools, and publishing houses. We bring our expertise, experience, and passion directly to you.
Mamori (Japanese) is a native of Tokyo. She has a Ph.D in linguistics from the City University of New York, and has been teaching Japanese and linguistics at Queens College in New York for 20 years. Mamori has authored Japanese textbooks published by Living Language/Random House, and she has also served on an advisory committee for language proficiency assessment at the U.S. Defense Language Institute. Mamori has taught hundreds of students, and she has studied several languages herself, so she really understands the challenges and obstacles that language students face as they work to achieve their goals, whether they’re just starting out in a new language or working toward fluency.
Sev (French) was born in New York City, and then at age two moved to France’s Loire Valley. His mother studied at the Sorbonne and became a German teacher, and his father spoke four languages fluently, so they encouraged a love of languages, culture, travel and the arts in their son. Sev has taught French online, in person, and as a private tutor. He has worked for Living Language/Random House, Rosetta Stone, and the Alliance Française of San Francisco.
Dulce (Portuguese, English) is a native of Pomona, California, who moved as a teenager to São Paulo, Brazil, where she ended up owning and managing a language school for nearly two decades. A bilingual language specialist with experience in ESL and Portuguese instruction as well as TOEFL prep, Dulce has written Portuguese language books for Random House’s Living Language. She has also developed content for Kaplan test prep materials and translated books and articles for various publishers and websites. Developing fluent Italian and French during multiyear stays in Milan and Paris gave Dulce a first-hand understanding of the challenges and joys of learning a foreign language, further perfecting her teaching skills.
Divinar Nyang’arisa (Swahili) is a Kenyan TSC registered teacher with over 10 years of experience in teaching, translations, social media marketing and administrative support in British international schools. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Swahili and Communication. She grew up in Africa (Kenya) and holds a Bachelor of education in arts (Kiswahili & Geography). She believes that good education shapes not only minds but hearts as well. And that learning different languages and traditions, by itself makes students more culturally appreciative and the same is incorporated into their daily and future lives. Her forte has been the use of up-to-date presentation skills in delivering knowledge through various online learning strategies for instance Zoom, Google classroom, Class dojo, google meet among others. As a native Kiswahili speaker, sharing my love for my language and culture has become my passion.
Apart from language, as a mother of five girls, one being a set of quadruplets, she has been doing blogs both online and offline live talks on matters of parenting and mental health.
Doyeon (Korean) is a native of Seoul and an instructor of Korean who loves the joys and challenges of learning new languages. She has taught Korean to a range of learners, including visiting foreign students at her university as well as Americans living in the US who are interested in Korean language and culture. She works with individual students as well as small groups, and meets each student with care, patience, and understanding. Doyeon was ordained as a Won Buddhist minister in 2007 and has served at the Manhattan Won Buddhist Temple in New York since 2008. She also represents Won Buddhism at the United Nations and is a religious life advisor at both Columbia University and New York University. Doyeon graduated from Won Kwang University in Iksan, South Korea,and earned an M.A. of Won Buddhist Studies from the Won Institute of Graduate Studies in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
Antonio (Italian) is originally from Sardegna, Italy. He’s been teaching Italian since the 90’s, both in Italy and in the US. He’s taught in schools, colleges, and online, and has learned how to use each medium to inspire his students and entertain them while they learn. Antonio is passionate about his work and his culture. He has been living in the US since 2007, but he travels to Italy several times a year. Antonio lives with his wife and daughter, as well as a cat and a dog. Antonio loves languages and in addition to English and Italian, he speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Antonio also has a lot of hobbies, including cooking, music, reading, cinema, and sports.
Jeff (Program Manager) is originally from Massachusetts, and has lived in New York, San Francisco, Portland, and Philadelphia. He enjoys working behind the scenes to make sure that your program is successful, and is ready to assist current and prospective students with scheduling, materials, teacher coordination, virtual classroom help, and any other account inquiries. Jeff enjoys photography, movies, and music, and is an avid dog lover.
Erik (Spanish) is a first-generation American who grew up speaking Spanish with his Colombian mother and Argentine father. He has taught Spanish in schools, organizations, and group and private lessons. Erik has taught Spanish at Berlitz Language Centers, was an Associate Publisher at Penguin Random House publishing books in Spanish, and has traveled throughout Latin America for work and leisure.
Henning (German) was born in Essen, Germany, and began learning new languages as soon as the opportunity presented itself—starting with English, Latin, and Hebrew in Gymnasium—and followed by Persian (Fârsi) and Arabic at the University of Hamburg, where he also picked up Modern Greek on the side. Hamburg is also where he taught German for the first time (in a shelter for underage refugees, back in the early nineties). He went on to study Sanskrit, Vedic, Avestan, and Comparative Indo-European Philology at UCLA. At some point he also found time to learn French. He taught Persian at UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (amazingly beautiful historic campus), and the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. But he was eager to return to teaching his native language, and in 2010, he became an instructor at the Goethe-Institut in San Francisco, where he’s been showing his students that learning German is really not all that hard, and a ton of fun, as well.
Chris (English) founded the Language Garage after over twenty years of working for big names in language instruction, such as Living Language/Random House and Berlitz. Chris has taught, he’s written and edited language courses, he’s been responsible for training and quality of instruction at large and medium sized language centers, and he’s been a language content developer for text, audio, online, and app. Chris has an M.Phil in Linguistics from CUNY’s Graduate Center, where he specialized in syntax. In his spare time, Chris studies languages. He also cooks, bikes, travels, meditates. And then he studies more languages.
Valentina (Russian) is a native of Moscow. She has her MA in Philology (from Greek φιλολογία (philología) – “love of a word/articulation/reason”) from Lomonosov Moscow State University, and she specialized in Russian Language & Literature. She’s been teaching Russian for more than 20 years both in Russia and in the US, where she moved in 2005. She has taught at Lomonosov Moscow State University, at the University of Lapland, and at major language schools in the US and UK, both online & in person, to individuals and groups from all walks of life. In her classes she loves to bring out both linguistic & cultural aspects, and to inspire her students to follow a “double E” principle: Effort & Enjoyment. Valentina loves learning new languages and at different times of her life has explored Greek, Latin, Chinese & Tibetan. She believes that learning languages is very meaningful, as it helps connect different parts of the world and invites people to understand each other’s ways, thoughts & cultures better. In this way languages are a major part of working toward humanity’s ultimate dream of Peace & Harmony on Earth. In her free time Valentina also loves to study Buddhist philosophy, meditate, hike, read and watch thought-provoking films.
Summer (Mandarin Chinese) is the founder of Liang Language Services, and she teaches Chinese and develops Chinese learning content here on the Language Garage as well. She sees potential in each one of her students and always takes a personalized approach with every student while helping them improve their Chinese language proficiency.
Summer is patient, adaptable, and professional, and she knows how to make learning Chinese fun and painless. She’ll work with you at your pace and in your learning style. Whether you’re learning Chinese for business, travel, family or personal interest, Summer can help you.
Manola (Italian and Castilian Spanish) was born and raised in Italy, in Sicily and Rome, and she has studied in Spain. She has several years of experience teaching, translating, and interpreting, and she holds a Master’s Degree in Linguistics. She also has degrees in Translation Studies and Anthropology. Manola loves to merge linguistics, culture, and media in her lessons, where she also incorporates visuals, engaging topics, creativity, and fun. Manola is passionate about languages and multilingualism, and when she is not teaching, she’s most likely reading about linguistics or learning a new language. Because of her background, Manola has a deep understanding of the strategies and techniques that will best serve students as they learn languages, including ways to avoid common difficulties and maintain commitment and emotional involvement. Apart from languages and language instruction, Manola is a fan of movies, reading, video games, and cooking.
Valeria (Italian) is a native of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Valeria has a deep love of all things related to learning and teaching languages. She has a BA in the teaching of Foreign Languages and Literature, with English as a major and Spanish as a minor. Her love for the English language started in Middle School, and has continued to grow to this day. She was a foreign exchange student at Rosemount High School, in Minnesota, where she lived for a year. She’s taught ESL for several years, at all levels, both in public and private schools. She has also taught Italian to English speakers, both in Italy and in the United States. Her love for the English language brought her back to NYC for several years, where she studied for her Bachelor Dissertation (on the culture and origins of African American English) at Columbia University.
Valeria’s goal while teaching is to inspire her students so that they’ll develop the same passion she’s always had for new languages and cultures. She strongly believes that learning new languages enriches people and makes them more open minded and sympathetic. She has a deep, personal experience of learning a foreign language, so she works with her students patiently and compassionately to make sure they’ll be comfortable and successful.
Valeria has been living in the United States for fourteen years. She’s married, has a daughter, and lives in New Jersey with her family and their puppy Mellow. Valeria loves travel, and she has even worked as a tour operator in New York City.
I-Ling (Chinese) 你好! Nihao! I am I-Ling, and student learning is the focus of my lessons. I create a curriculum around specific outcomes and goals that you want to reach. By focusing on your goals and using activities that center on you, I can help you learn how to perform specific tasks that are useful to you, no matter why you’re learning Chinese. I strive to give you a lesson that is well structured with lots of useful, practical, and concrete examples. I incorporate interesting stories and current events so that there’s always a context that you can relate to and find interesting. I strongly believe that meaning and emotion are key to getting information into your long-term memory. When we do this, your lesson comes alive and you’ll remember what you’ve learned long after our lesson is over. I also like to foster a relaxed environment where you can be perfectly comfortable talking to me about any feedback or challenges you may have with your lessons. I am excited to meet you here at the Language Garage!
Ygor (Spanish) was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He can’t believe that he has been a teacher of Philosophy (Wittgenstein-obsessed), Classical Languages (Latin and Greek lover) and Spanish (faithful devotee of Jorge Luis Borges) for more than 17 years. He believes that teaching languages might be not only the most beautiful subject but also the most comprehensive. Different ways of thought, philosophy, politics, poetry, love, food, geography, everything is in Languages and their human diversity.