Hello! My name is María Zeledon, as the Area Director for Lango Foothills, my goal is to bring high quality as well as fun language classes for kids and offer them at the most convenient locations for parents.
Lango's teachers make our classes truly exceptional. In our selection process, we look for five distinct qualities: native/bilingual fluency, limitless positive energy, creativity, teaching experience with relevant age groups and outstanding communication skills with both children and their parents. Beyond these qualities, though, our teachers bring unique cultural perspectives and professional backgrounds that enable them to create rich, engaging experiences in the classroom.
I look forward to meeting you and your kids and share with you the Gift of Foreign Languages!
Meet the Foothill Lango team!
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María Zeledon
I am a native Spanish speaker who grew up in Nicaragua where I got my BS and a postgraduate degree in Functional Management. In 1994 I moved to New York to be the Consul General of Nicaragua, and earned a MA in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University. When I moved to California I started teaching Spanish in elementary and high school. In 2010 I completed a Masters degree in Teaching the Spanish Language and its Culture from the University of Granada, Spain.
As a bilingual person myself, I know how difficult it is to learn a foreign language as an adult. That's why I decided to teach Spanish to my now teeenage kids when they were pre-schoolers. I'm proud to have raised my kids to be completely fluent in Spanish and aware of the benefits of being multilingual and multicultural.
I am thrilled to bring my passion for education, languages and cross-cultural understanding to children in this area
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Fernanda Karolys
multicultural and multilingual background includes attending the Musicians Institute and the Universidad de San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador as a Music major. She was raised in both Ecuador and the United States and appreciattes the opportunities to share the music she heard as a child. She loves children and enjoys the chance to be creative and have fun while providing a valuable enrichment Spanish class. Fernanda plays the guitar, sings and has experience working with preschool children working Spanish for Chicos y Chicas and Lango.
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Reka Peti-Peterdi
My name is Reka Peti-Peterdi. I consider myself a multi-lingual and multi-cultural person. I have dedicated my professional life to master languages. I chose this career very early, at the age of 10, when I started studying French. This was not a difficult choice since I was born and raised in Hungary, a small country in the heart of Europe surrounded by all the classic languages. I also lived or spent longer time periods in many countries including France, Austria, Germany, Japan, and the United States. All of these different cultures inspired and influenced my life, and I have become very interested in the special bond between culture and languages.
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Karen Juarez
Karen Juarez is a native Spanish speaker who grew up in Nicaragua where she got her degree in Spanish. She loves to teach her native language and teach about the latinamerican culture. She worked for different preschools in the area and later she decided to stay home to raise her son and at the same time worked as a private Spanish tutor for children and adults. Karen is very active volunteering at her son's school and enjoys hiking, reading and dancing. She is very happy to be teaching with Lango and enjoys very much interacting with kids and teaching them Spanish.
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Kattie Xu
Ni Hao!!!
My name is Kattie (Songqing) Xu. I was born and raised in CHina and moved to Los Angeles 2 years ago. Before coming to America, I was a high school teacher at a international school in China. I'm passionate about teaching Chinese and introducing Chinese culture to my students and I'm good at doing this. Children's stories and drawing are my favorite and and they fill my class with interest, which also makes children feel relaxed and happy while studying.
I feel lucky to do something that I like. I'm now in the final year of my Master's degree in Chinese Bilingual Teaching at LMU and UCLA Confucius Institute. I would love to contribute my language abilities and cultural knowledge to Lango Foothills students.
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Nury Enriquez
Nury is a native Spanish speaker from Havana, Cuba and she is also fluent in French.She initiated her professional career as a Computer Engineer and then switched to teaching both computer science and languages. She lived in Paris for 5 years where she worked and raised her son, who is now trilingual. For the last 10 years she was a teacher at Ecole Francaise de la Havana, where she was teaching completely in French. Since moving to Los Angeles, she's been volunteering as a Spanish-French-English translator and interpreter. She's also worked as a Spanish tutor. Nury enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures.
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Yatzil Gomez
Hola!
I am a native Spanish speaker from Mexico City with a bachelor’s degree in teaching French as a second language from the University of Burgundy, France. I consider myself multicultural since I have lived in Mexico, England and the US. I have also spent long periods of time in France and Sweden. Teaching in Lango allows me to merge two of my passions: education and languages. I love working with kids and hearing them laugh when I am in class with them. I believe that every time they smile they are a step closer to becoming multilingual.
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