About Us

About our school

The Santa Cruz Language Institute strives to teach languages for communication, and give language students access to the communities of the world.

Our language school goal is to bring an excellent learning environment to our community, as well as to help each and every person in Santa Cruz develop their language speaking potential and become a citizen of the world. We have the experience required to help people from all walks of life learn the languages they need and love.

In our classes, we create a casual and fun environment that fits the Santa Cruz lifestyle. Working in small groups, we cover both speaking proficiency and grammar with equal emphasis.

The Santa Cruz Language Institute is committed to help students, professionals, companies and organizations to bridge linguistic gaps, build and expand their network, and integrate in the communities they work.

The Santa Cruz Language Institute has a special interest in helping students develop their natural ability to learn languages, and become multicultural while being engaged.

Ariel Pérez

Ariel is a Lecturer of Spanish at UCSC, and has taught at Stanford University and the Defense Language Institute. He is also a certified Oral Proficiency Interview tester for ACTFL and DLI. His experience ranges from curriculum development, test development, and computer-assisted teaching, to teaching adults and young adults in the classroom. He holds a Masters in Teaching Foreign Languages from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS.) He likes to play chess, watch fútbol, go rowing at the gym; and when he grows up he wants to be an artist.

Michelle Barbosa

Michelle is a Spanish language consultant and teacher with vast experience teaching Spanish to children and adults. She has been teaching Spanish as a second language for the past 20 years in both California and Argentina. In 2008, she founded A.P.I.E., a Spanish teacher’s cooperative Association for international students. In San Diego, California, she taught at the Berlitz Institute and also collaborated with Sing ‘n Speak Spanish® program. She holds a B.A. in Profesorado de Español from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina and a Master’s degree in Alternative Pedagogies (VIU) . Prior to her language studies, she obtained an A.A. in Fine Arts and Graphic Design from SDCC, US. She is also fluent in English, Portuguese, French and some Italian. She loves traveling and discovering new cultures. She enjoys singing, playing guitar, quena and also practices competitive chess.

Natalie

Natalie is an English teacher who was raised in Santa Cruz. She specializes in teaching English as a second language. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Classical Civilizations from Beloit College. She has been studying languages throughout her life and truly enjoys the process of starting a new language. She has studied Spanish, French, Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese as a part of her continuing interest in language. For the past year, she has been working in Spain as an Auxiliar de Conversación for 6th graders in Madrid. During her B.A., she lived in Murcia, Spain for one year while she attended the Universidad de Murcia. She likes to focus on her students goals and work towards finding better ways for them to understand the English language. She is an avid knitter, reader, and language learner, who is also trying to learn how to kick box.

Nadia

Nadia is a licentiate in Psycho-pedagogy from Universidad del Salvador, Bs As, Argentina. She became a teacher in 2005, also with experience in non-formal education since 2001. She taught in schools, high schools, colleges, institutes and also imparted private English and Spanish as a second language (in Argentina, Costa Rica, and Mexico). Her degree allows her to identify, among other things, learning styles so she can adapt her classes to each student´s needs. She has studied English from an early age. In 2001, she obtained the New Oxford Institute E.L.T. Lower Certificate in La Plata, Buenos Aires. She has been traveling across Latin America for the last 7 years sharing educational activities and music. She plays different musical instruments and sings Latino American folk and rock. During the last 3 years, she has been taking writing workshops in Argentina and Mexico as well as writing and telling stories for kids and adults.

Marie

Marie is a French teacher, she was born in Champagne, France. She loves teaching her mother tongue while immersing students in French culture and customs. She studied Applied foreign languages with a major in Business at the Sorbonne University in Paris, later she achieved a Master’s degree in English and Spanish at Rouen University in Normandie, France. Teaching is her way of sharing her knowledge and make her country and culture known. She’s very patient and knows how to adapt to every level and student. She likes to focus on culture and on the students’ motivations and hobbies as well. She loves to travel and she’s very keen on languages.

Asunción

Asunción is a Spanish teacher, originally from Zaragoza, Spain. She holds a Master degree in Journalism with a specialty in human rights and international relations. San Jorge University, Zaragoza, Spain. Master degree in Political Science from National International University of La Rioja, Spain. International Diploma in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language. International House Mexico center accredited by the Cervantes Institute. Her main passion is traveling, learning from the stories of those who she comes across. She sees language as a fundamental tool that brings people closer and reduces prejudice. Her goal when teaching Spanish is to facilitate understanding and equality between people.

Elisa

Elisa is our Italian teacher, originally from Rome, Italy. She graduated in Languages and linguistic-cultural mediation at Università degli studi Roma TRE in 2017. She obtained the Ditals I & II certification and has an excellent level of knowledge of the English and Spanish languages, but also an academic level of the French language. She discovered the passion for teaching through her working experience as a language teacher and in 2018, decided to specialize in teaching Italian to foreigners in order to spread her wonderful Italian language and culture.

Valentin

He is a Spanish and English Teacher working at the moment in different high schools throughout Spain. He achieved a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism at UCSC. He also obtained a minor in Education and a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. At his time at UCSC he was the Spanish department’s tutor. He has recently obtained a postgraduate certification as an Expert in Natural Language Processing at the Cálamo y Cran School in Madrid, Spain. Currently, he is attending a Master’s program in Technological Language (AI) at the Complutense University of Madrid. Valentin loves to travel and get to know other cultures. He also plays guitar and is a great cook! He wishes to share his experiences and love for languages through teaching.

Joséphine

Joséphine is a French teacher, born in Lorraine, France. She
studied a Master degree in International Relationship in Aix en Provence and then a Master Degree in Teaching French as a Foreign Language in Le Mans. Joséphine’s teaching philosophy is that it is easier to learn when you have fun and to teach a language is also to share the country’s culture. As a result of this, she is very happy to introduce her students to French-speaking culture through music, literature or cinema. She is also a passionate kindergarten teacher. She loves traveling and has lived in several Latin American countries such as Argentina or Mexico.

Fátima

Fátima is a Portuguese and an elementary school teacher born in Porto, Portugal. She studied at the University of Salamanca, Spain and has been working as a Portuguese teacher ever since. In her classes, she tries to show her students, in the easiest way possible for each one, what the keys to speaking Portuguese well are. She describes herself as a cheerful and empathetic teacher whose main goal is to make sure you have fun while learning something new. Almost eight years of experience teaching children, teenagers and adults. If you are her student, you should know that one of her animals might join your class one day.

Natalie

She is a qualified financial advisor and administrator, specialized in medical business financing. She’s also fluent in Spanish and English. She loves to travel and is very fond of socio-cultural matters around the world. In her free time she practices a lot of outdoor activities and yoga.