MEET OUR TEACHERS!

Pamela Goldhagen
A native of Ecuador, Pamela has had the fortune to travel the world to study and observe various cultures, along the way landing at Universite Paul Vallery in France, the California College of the Arts and the William Howard Taft University where she is working towards her Masters in Education as well as a Montessori credential. Her teaching career started in Northern California, continued in North Florida before settling in South Florida where she currently works as a lead Montessori teacher. She believes that any subject presented to a young mind can be tackled and well captured when taught with enthusiasm and patience.
Pamela, being the product of a bi-lingual home, strongly believes that second language capabilities are in growing need in our global and diverse communities more so now than ever before. Teaching toddlers, preschoolers, and young adults foreign languages will provide them with invaluable advantages, both now and in the future. Pamela looks forward to meeting her new students and their families and together making the experience at Lango a fruitful one!

Carolina Kleber
Carolina graduated from the I.V.A.L. as a Speech Pathologist in Caracas, Venezuela, her native country. Based on her knowledge acquired by working in individual and group therapy, along with her own experience in learning a foreign language, she recognized the importance and the benefits of being exposed to different cultures and languages in the early ages of childhood. She is a certified Kindermusik educator in English and Spanish, she is currently working on getting an additional B.A. as an early childhood Spanish teacher. Carolina has a 5 year old son who belongs to a bi-lingual home and she understands that kids need instructional learning along with social interaction to practice and internalize their second language. That’s why she found it fascinating to teach for Lango, because they have extremely well organized written programs and materials, to make the learning of a foreign language a successful and pleasant experience, as well as a fun one.  

Julie Shen
Originally from Taiwan, Julie Shen has been teaching Mandarin Chinese and Art to children ages 5 to 16 years old. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Julie is a visual artist whose artistic talents in painting and collage were discovered at very tender age at school. For for information about Julie's art, please visit http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/julie-shen.html.  
Having been fortunate enough to travel across the world, she is a strong believer in the value of foreign language and cultural heritage education to young children as the world continues to become smaller and smaller. She takes pleasure in teaching children because she feels that their spirit inspires her as she enjoys seeing them grow in knowledge, whether in the language arts or the visual arts.

Raisa Araujo

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Raisa is a mother of two boys, who for the last five years has worked as a teacher in bilingual schools, where she had the opportunity to teach Spanish as a second language.

Raisia has trained and received certifications in Early Literacy for Children, Basic Guidance and Discipline, VPK Credential Director and Special Needs Appropriate Practices.  Raisa feels privileged to work with children of different ages, because she believes that in addition to teaching them, they give us joy from their innocence, and allow us to see life from a different point of view.

Gisela Diaz 

Gisela is originally from New York and lived in Puerto Rico for twenty years. She has a Bachelor's degree in Education and a Master's degree in TESOL. She has taught for seventeen years, and had the opportunity to teach Spanish as a second language from grades PK-3 to Eighth grade. Gisela enjoys teaching and believes that learning a second language at an early age, opens many doors and opportunities.

Eric Buisson

 Originally from France, Eric has lived in Paris, Provence, the Alps, and the beautiful Loire Valley, but he now calls South Florida home.  Eric learned English the hard way—he was already an adult—and  understands the lifelong benefits that come with learning new languages at an early age.  As a French tutor for many years in both the UK and USA, he marvels at how rapidly children absorb and comprehend  a completely different language.  Eric brings humor, surprise, and fun into his classes and takes pride in seeing his students excel. 

Valerie Raphael

A native French speaker, Valerie moved to the United States with her family at the age of 10. Having lived abroad (in Haiti) for the early part of her life and growing up in the culturally diverse South Florida, she has had exposure to an array of cultures early on. Her young age made it easy for her to learn English in less than one year and that's when her love of languages began to develop.

Valerie is a graduate of Florida International University, with a B.A. in International Relations. She also minored in Spanish and speaks it fluently. She has also taken Arabic and Japanese courses, while at the university, and has kept up with her studies of languages since graduating. Valerie hopes to one day be fluent in Korean as well (after she has learned Arabic and Japanese). Her dream is to travel the world and to use her communication skills and knowledge of cultures to make a positive change in the world.

Emily Kaufman

Emily was born and raised in Lima, Peru and moved to Israel at age 23, spending eight years there. She came to the United States in 2005 and has accumulated more than five years experience working in different charter language academies and private schools.

Emily is tri-lingual and has the ability to teach Spanish and Hebrew as a second language to individuals and groups of all ages. She is a big believer in the idea that, through the encouragement of speaking more languages, people will experience better opportunities in life. Emily believes that the classroom should provide a fun and educational environment for children, who will learn through games, art and music. As well, young adults can also benefit from taking this class, as learning different languages can enrich people lives and be used towards business, travel and forging relationships.

Emily studied Methodology of Teaching and Artwork for children at the Peruvian Japanese Institute. She has taught Hebrew for Birthright and schools and Spanish in classrooms and as a private tutor.

Tanya Chen

Originally from Beijing, China, Tanya was a newspaper reporter before she moved to the US where, along with pursuing her graduate degree in graphic design from the University of Miami, she has been teaching Mandarin to both adults and children.

Lu Zhao

"Lulu" graduated from the Communications University of China with a degree in Journalism. She has worked as a TV journalist at a Chinese TV station in Thailand before teaching children dance and language.

Lulu believes that encouraging children to try different activities at a young age is very important so that the child can grow and find what they enjoy most. For her working with children and being part of that process is extremely rewarding.

Amanda Liu
Originally from China and fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, Amanda Liu is an artist, fine arts teacher and Chinese language teacher.  Amanda has studied art in China, the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, France as well as at Broward College in Florida. Besides teaching for Lango, she also teaches art and Chinese language and culture to homeschool kids