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.

Brian grew up in Orange County where he started Spanish at a young age. After high school he went to the University of Colorado at Boulder where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Spanish. Continuing his knowledge of Spanish has been an important part of his life, so his 3rd year of college he traveled to Seville, Spain where he studied at the University of Seville and worked for a student travel company. Since then he has traveled Central America by sailboat, acting as translator and crew. Currently he works for a high school study abroad company with hopes of opening young students from all around Orange County to the opportunity of living in Spain and gaining a greater knowledge of Spanish culture and language.

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 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.

Meredith was born and raised in San Diego, where she began studying Spanish in high school. She is currently an undergraduate in the Honors program at UC Irvine, pursuing a degree in Cognitive Science with a minor in Spanish. She recently returned from a semester in Madrid, where she had the opportunity to become fully immersed in the Spanish language and culture and to further refine her language skills, and is currently involved in the HABLA program with UCI, for which she teaches kindergarten-preparatory skills in Spanish to second-generation Chicano immigrant children. She will soon begin to conduct research on the long-term impact the program has had on its students and their siblings. After graduation, she hopes to continue improving her Spanish while teaching English through the Fulbright program in Chile and, while there, interning in the field of micro-finance and non-profit development. In her free time, Meredith enjoys painting, drawing, music and politics.

Zeinab was born and raised in Lebanon where she started learning French at the very early age of three. After finishing high school in her native country, Zeinab spent one year in Quebec Canada with her sister where she greatly enjoyed the European American flare of this province. In late 2000, she moved to Northern California where she completed a Bachelor of Science in Finance at Santa Clara University. After working at one of the Big Four accounting firms for two years, Zeinab opted to move to Southern California to attend Pepperdine University pursuing her MBA and a Master in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution.

Zeinab tutored various subjects during her undergraduate years and worked as an in-class teaching assistant for French professors. In addition, she tutored English writing and composition for native English speakers and conducted various one-on-one conversational Arabic tutoring sessions. Zeinab uses creative and customized techniques for teaching French and Arabic and continuously enjoys researching pedagogical strategies to enhance her students’ learning experience.

Being trilingual and having a passion for teaching, Zeinab has especially enjoyed tutoring languages and sharing with her students the power and beauty each language has to offer. Zeinab received various awards for being a dedicated and an exemplary tutor and mentor.

Michelle was born and raised in Sunnyvale, the heart of the Silicon Valley, before moving to Orange County to further her education at UC Irvine. Her exploration with Spanish came at an early age while studying the language in middle school, following into high school. She had the opportunity to serve as a translator in a community outreach program in Tijuana, Mexico. There, she was able to experience and immerse herself into a different cultural environment, which spurred more interest and passion for the language. She continues to volunteer at a variety of multicultural outreach programs for children, to mentor and encourage the arts. She is currently pursuing a double major of Studio Art and Business Administration and enjoys guitar playing, painting, and designing.

Jose is originally from Michuacan, Mexico. At a young age, Jose came to the United States with the primary objective to learn English by his parents (Artemio and Sara Pedraza) along with his 2 brothers and 4 sisters. Jose was able to learn English through the course of middle and high school. A few years later, Jose returned to college and earned his BA in Spanish with an emphasis in Linguistics from Cal State Fullerton. It was at Fullerton where Jose discovered the passion for his culture, language, and history. Jose began teaching Spanish/English and was a wrestling coach for San Clemente high school. Within a few years, he changed careers to the wireless industry where he continued to teach Spanish in the bilingual department for Verizon Wireless for native speakers who found difficulty transitioning from domestic to business Spanish. He continued his love for coaching where he helped build the wrestling program for a new high school, Beckman High. Jose is currently working for his Masters in Business while managing a team for a wireless company. On his spare time, Jose enjoys playing basketball, tennis, eating mom’s homemade cooking, and practicing mixed martial arts.

Zoe realized she had a special gift with language after traveling to Europe as a teenager. She is trilingual in French, Italian and English. She received her BA in French and Italian Studies from the University of Washington Seattle, majoring in French minoring in Italian. Immediately after obtaining her degree she left for Paris to teach English to French High school students for a year through the French Ministry of Education. She independently taught, developed and executed lesson plans. She was fully immersed in French culture working and socializing with native French people. She travels to France often and is complemented on her fluency. She also studied, lived and worked in Florence Italy before obtaining her Italian minor. She supplemented her Italian education working in an Italian only environment in the US. She currently tutors and teaches.

Patrick graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Political Science. Raised in South Orange County, he attended high school at St.Margaret’s Episcopal School where he became proficient in Spanish and Latin. He continued to study South American and Caribbean literature throughout his time at the University of Chicago, honing his understanding of Spanish language and Latin American culture. Studying abroad in Rome perfected his grasp of Vergilian Latin and allowed him to learn modern Italian. Upon return from Rome, he pursued further studies in the Italian language and ultimately pursued a research endeavor in Palermo, Sicily, the following summer. While living in Chicago, Patrick also taught in the Chicago as a Federal Gear-Up Tutor which he believes helped him develop a manner of instruction which is both creative and informative. When he is not teaching or traveling he works as an assistant to a literary manager at a West Hollywood talent management firm called Vincent Cirrincione Associates.

Shereen is originally Lebanese but was born in the U.S while her parents were visiting. She spent the first 12 years of her life in Nigeria where she attended the French School of Kano. At home she maintained her multilingual skills by speaking French to her mother and Arabic to her father. Outside her home, she spoke English. At 13, she moved to Lebanon and attended the French school in Beirut. She tutored French and Arabic throughout high school. Later she attended LAU, Lebanese American University of Beirut and graduated with a B.S in Graphic Design and a minor in Fine Arts. Her love of language, culture and design has allowed her to visit more than 15 countries. In addition, she loves teaching languages because it is the key to communication.. “If French is the language of love, what better language is there with which to express.”

Roya 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 includesteaching 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.

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 teachingat 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 teachingaccreditation.

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.

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 teachinglanguage at the prestigious IberoAmerican Institute. It was there that Tatiana not only acquired herteaching 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.

Monique was born in Santa Clara, in Northern California’s Silicon Valley. She first started learning Spanish in middle school and soon discovered the beauty of literature and language in high school. She is now attends the University of California in Irvine majoring in English literature and minoring in Spanish. She is very well-read and loves to practice her Spanish conversational skills whenever given the opportunity. She is very interested in Hispanic dialects, specifically that of Argentina. Monique would ultimately like to study and work abroad in a South American country but for now is immersing herself in language exchanges in Santa Ana, receiving valuable practice from her community and helping in return. Monique has proficiency in Hindi and some Russian. She also loves to travel and has been to parts of Asia, Europe, and North America.