Our Team

Marian Zapata – Owner, CEO

Marian is a native from Granada, Spain. Marian and her husband moved to Maryland in the year 2000 and have two wonderful bilingual boys. After living in Bethesda for 6 years, and searching for language education, she realized there was a lack of effective language programs in the area.

With her studies and teaching experience, she decided to create a school that would provide students with the best language education. That is how International School of Languages was born. Marian loves seeing the progress of all the students at the school and learning about their trips and experiences. In her free time, Marian enjoys playing and reading with her kids, family bike rides, camping, outdoors, yoga, and traveling (especially to Spain to see her family).

May Seo – School Administrator

May was born in Korea. She first studied in Korea, but moved to London where she extended her studies. From London, her love for traveling brought her to Sydney, where she worked for the Australian university helping Korean students.

She moved back to Seoul, Korea, to be with her family and while there, she owned and operated a language school. After some time, she finally moved to the United States where she currently resides. Her curiosity and love for new cultures and for meeting diverse people have made her travel every chance she gets. She has faith in the power of education and she tries to support children in need wherever she travels to. In her free time, she enjoys photography, trying new foods, art, and bowling.

Ana Gutierrez – School Administrator

Ana is passionate about coordinating programs that help others achieve their goal of learning another language(s), as she did. She fell in love with the French language and Latin word roots in high school, and continues enjoying making connections between Romance languages since then.

Asami Saito Paine – Japanese Instructor

I love teaching as it is amazing to see the students improve their Japanese languages abilities and be able to communicate in Japanese. I am looking forward to seeing you at the school!

Maria Elisa Covarrubias – Spanish Instructor

Maria Elisa is a native Spanish speaker from Mexico. She lived in Mexico City most of her life and moved to the United States a few years ago. She enjoys teaching Spanish because she loves the language and the culture associated with it.

In her free time, she loves art, music, nature and spending time with friends and family.

Johannes Nziengui – French and English Instructor

Whether teaching English or my native French, nothing gives me more pleasure professionally than to help my students not only build language skills, but actually begin to use the language to express themselves and make improvements with growing confidence.

Lorena Arevalo – Spanish Instructor

Lorena is a native from Venezuela.  She has a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources. When she moved here in 2016, she became a certified teacher and has been teaching since then.  One of her passions is to teach Spanish to children. She loves seeing how quickly they improve!

Her hobbies are reading, hiking and cooking.

Victoria Zeballos-Woods – Spanish Instructor

Victoria is a native of Lima, Peru. She went to college in Lima and studied Psychology. She received a Masters in Psychology of Education. When she moved to the United States, she decided to continue her studies and obtained a Bachelor’s in Psychology.

Victoria is also a community interpreter and a Community Health Worker. During the years living here,  she has also dedicated herself to teaching the Spanish language. She has experience with all the ages and levels of knowledge. She loves and enjoys working with the students as they learn a foreign language, making it fun and entertaining so they enjoy the process. Her hobbies are reading, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.

Lidwine Baltenneck – French Instructor

My name is Lidwine (pronounce lid-vin). I am a native from France and I’ve spent most of my life in the Paris area.

I have been a teacher for more than twenty years. I teach English and French. I have had a passion for languages since I started learning English as a child. I did English studies in France and started teaching to individuals and groups, from 3 to 75 years old… and I love teaching to all of them.

The cultural aspect of the language is important to me since I think you cannot understand a language without understanding its culture.

I have lived in English-speaking Canada for about 3 years – where I passed my TEFL certification and started teaching French more than English. I currently live in the big suburb of DC with my American husband and our cat (aka the assistant teacher whom you may meet since he loves showing up during some classes). I really enjoy the cultural diversity here and people’s friendliness.

In my free time I like to go for walks or hikes, go to museums, just read (in both languages) or simply socialize with good friends. I like baking French desserts and im always happy to share them with friends. 🙂

Saada Abdallah- Arabic Instructor 

Saada was born in Lebanon, where she grew up speaking Arabic, French and English. After graduating from college with a degree in Journalism, Saada became a successful broadcast journalist covering all aspects of her home country.

Since moving to America, she has continued to practice journalism and has published a book about her experience in Arabic, a language she enjoys teaching and sharing.

Diana Rivas – Spanish Instructor

I was born in Cali, Colombia. I am a graduate student from the University of Maryland where I received a Masters in ESOL. I like good restaurants and I also like to travel. I enjoy teaching languages to all levels and also currently volunteer for a non-profit organization in the area teaching Spanish to adults.

I really enjoy teaching and to me, sharing my knowledge with others is a rewarding experience because I love to see improvement in others. Likewise, I love connecting with people as it allows me to learn something new every day. As an aspiring Physician, I cherish the ability to be multilingual. To me, giving someone the gift of language is hands-down the most satisfying teaching experience.

Catalina Campos – Spanish Instructor

Hola! I am Catalina and I am from Costa Rica! I majored in French and English teaching and have been working as a French, English and Spanish language teacher for over 20 years. I love teaching! It is my true passion. I love to help students in the acquisition of a language.

I love going hiking and helping dogs in need during my free time.

Amy W. Hasberger – French and English Instructor

For 20 years, in the Chicagoland area, Amy worked with students of all ages, sharing a love of both French language and ESL development TOEFL, speaking skills and cross-cultural training.  Now residing in Bethesda, Maryland, Amy retains her commitment to linguistic proficiency with students in both French and American English.

Amy has worked at ISL for three years and truly enjoys seeing how her students evolve and improve their language skills every day!

Rosangela Corte – Portuguese Instructor

My name is Rosangela Corte, but most people call me Rose. I am from Brazil and have lived in Maryland for the past 11 years. I have more than 25 years of experience teaching Portuguese to children and adults, initially in my hometown of Porto Alegre, located in the south of Brazil, and since 2008, here in the US.

When I am not teaching or taking care of my family I love to do arts and crafts and make quilts, as well as travel abroad.

Helene Blin, French Instructor

Helene was born in Le Mans, France. She studied International relations and negotiations for English and Spanish speaking countries (Bachelor and Master) and Finance (Master). She taught business in France for 3 years, as well as Risk Management and Business Ethics in Monaco and in the United States for 9 years.

She  found a new passion teaching French here in the US, and has since enjoyed sharing her knowledge with her students. “My greatest reward is seeing them progressing, asking questions and gradually embedding French in their comfort zone”. In her free time, Helene enjoys traveling the world, windsurfing, skiing, sailing, reading, listening to jazz and classical music, playing the piano and doing acrylic painting pouring.

Mayra A. Cantor – Spanish Instructor

Mayra is originally from Colombia, and grew up in a city called Cali where people are very cheerful and kind and love dancing salsa. She has lived in the US for the past eight years. She
has an educational psychology background.

In Colombia, she taught English as a second language. Now she teaches Spanish and really enjoys sharing her language and culture with others. In her free time, she loves reading, watching movies, learning new languages and meeting people from different cultures.

Natalya Tomasova, Russian Instructor 

Natalya was born in Novorossiysk, Russia. She studied Russian Philology at the Kuban State University in Krasnodar, Russia, as well as her MBA. She has been teaching Russian for 25 years and really loves to learn about her students and assisting them with their goals of developing their language skills and cultural awareness.

When she is not teaching, she enjoys reading, hiking, swimming, and cooking!

Evelina Todoranova, French Instructor

Originally from Bulgaria, I have over 13 years of professional experience in education. I have been teaching French and English at all levels for children and adults, and I worked for the International Baccalaureate Organisation.

I have a Master’s in International Education and Bilingualism, a Bachelor in French Studies, and different teaching certifications. I am passionate about education and enjoy teaching language and culture to children and professionals of all levels. I am married to a Spanish and lived in France, Spain, UK, Netherlands and now enjoying life in the USA. In my spare time, I love to expand my culinary skills and to share food and joy with friends.

Greg Stauffer – German Instructor

Liliane Weinrob, French Instructor

Liliane has been involved in promoting the language and culture of France, her native french language, in the Washington area for nearly 25 years. Before working with ISL, she served as a volunteer teacher for a nonProfit and taught french to young professionals in the corporate and non profit world.

Besides working at ISL, Liliane enjoys gardening, hiking, yoga and traveling. 

Pamela Li, Chinese Instructor

Pamela was born in Beijing, China. She studied in Beining International Chinese University to obtain a degree as a teacher of Chinese as a second language to foreign students. She has been teaching in Chinese for over 30 years and in the United States since 2017.

Pamela enjoys watching her students grow and progress as they learn Chinese. In her free time, she enjoys visiting museums and art.

Araceli Ma, Spanish Instructor 

Araceli was born in Peru. She studied Communications Science at the University of Lima. In the US, she found her passion in teaching Spanish and has been doing that since 2014 at public schools, in group and individual settings.

She loves teaching because it gives her the opportunity to be creative, to play, sing and do funny voices while teaching kids. She loves acting and, in her spare time, she likes watching movies and organizing and printing her photos.

Young Ok Kim– Korean Instructor

I was born in Korea, where I majored in German language and literature. I have more than 10 years of teaching experience with both children and adults. I love teaching because I love to meet people who have a passion for learning.

It is a great pleasure to be able to talk to them, share my knowledge, and help them improve. In my free time, I enjoy reading and travel.

Hasnae El Mehdi – Arabic Instructor

Hasnae was born in Morocco where she graduated with a bachelors in Economics and a Masters in Finance. In Morocco, she worked in the field of Public Administration. She moved to Washington DC in 2013 and has been teaching Arabic since then.

It is her passion to share her language and culture with her students. She is very professional and has a great sense of humor.

Paola Reale – Italian Instructor

Paola was born in Rome, Italy. She studied Dramatic Arts in Italy and Education in Spain. She has been teaching Italian since 1997 and enjoys teaching her students both her native language and culture.

She is energetic, charismatic and is also fluent in Spanish, French and English.

Anastasiia Demkina – ESL and Russian Instructor

Anastasiia is a professional educator and a new Mom. She is currently a PhD student in Adult Education in the USA, and obtained both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Teaching ESOL in Moscow.  She has been teaching since 2010.
Anastasiia’s fascination with teaching English led her to London where she got her CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

She enjoys teaching ESL, teaching Russian, doing Yoga, and taking long walks with her family at the weekend.

Her biggest hobby is doing Yoga. She travelled to India as a backpacker then lived there in Ashram for six month, getting certified as a Yoga Instructor. In 2018 she came to the US and settled down in DC area where shortly after she met her husband and moved to Fredericksburg, VA.

Lisa Tellbrugge – German Instructor

Lisa was born in Bremen, Germany. She is a passionate conference interpreter, translator and language instructor. Lisa earned a Master’s degree in Conference Interpreting, from FTSK Germersheim, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and a Master’s degree in Contemporary History and Spanish Philology.

Lisa lived and worked abroad in Spain for several years. Since she moved to Washington, DC, in 2018, she has been working as a German language &  culture instructor. In her German classes, she combines all her enthusiasm for languages, linguistic experience, and cultural background knowledge to provide tailor-made German classes to the specific needs of her students.

Jeannie Michelena – Spanish Instructor

When I am not teaching, I enjoy cooking and honing my foreign language skills. I live in Maryland with my husband, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, and with my son and daughter.

Ana María Rico Londoño – Spanish Instructor

I am from Medellín, Colombia, and I have been working with adults learners and children of all ages in my home country, France and the United States, both in person and online since 2016.

My passion for language and intercultural connections inspired me to pursue a BA in Foreign Language Education at the University of Antioquia in Medellín, Colombia from where I graduated.

Through my teaching experiences and studies, I have focus on student-centered instruction, communicative approach, critical pedagogy, and the use of authentic material. These are concepts that have a main role in my teaching practice due to the positive results and effectiveness that I have evidenced in my students’ learning process as users of a language, regardless their age or language proficiency.

As a foreign language teacher, I think it is essential to be responsive to student’s needs, interests, personal language goals, and cultural background to create lesson plans that promote motivation and a meaningful learning. I want my students to play an active role in their learning process, so I’m open to your ideas and suggestions to work together as a team! What matters most to me as a teacher is facilitating an enjoyable class environment where students can have fun while learning and gaining confidence in the foreign language.

In my free time, I love learning languages (I am currently learning Arabic and Russian!) I also like going to the museums, watching movies and going out with friends!.

Scarlet Echeverria – Spanish Instructor

Hi! I am Scarlet.
I am graduate in Foreign Languages Applied to International Business with focus in the Spanish language. Currently I am DELE official examiner. I’ve been teaching Spanish since 2016 for children and adults. I am an enthusiastic teacher that loves to engage students with culture, art and latin songs.

I am from Brazil and like to spend time with my little daughter Sarah and my dog Luna. In my free time, I enjoy watching series, drinking coffee and traveling.

Madeleine Lachman – French Instructor

Susanna Weerth – German Instructor

Susanna, a German native, grew up in the South-West of Germany at the board of Switzerland and France. After finishing her education residing in several German cities in the South she moved to New York and finally to Maryland working in the biomedical field before becoming a German language professional and teacher.

She enjoys supporting professionals, adult and children of all ages in individual and group classes to master the German language and to immerse themselves in the German culture. She tailors her classes to the individual interests and needs of her students and makes the class a fun experience to acquire a language.

María Catalán – Spanish Instructor

Hello! I am María, I have been a Spanish teacher for many, many years, at least 12. I am Spanish and I am based in Madrid, the city where I was born. I have a Master’s degree in teaching my native language and I have a degree in Journalism too but teaching is what I love the most. I can say I have the great fortune of being able to make my vocation my way of life.

I love writing, reading, painting and animals. I am passionate about Psychology and everything that helps me know and understand people. What I like the most and what I value most about them is their sense of humor, I think it’s very important and helpful for everything. Good sense of humor makes everything fun and easier.

Tom Stockley – American Sign Language Instructor

Tom was born in Syracuse, New York. He earned a Masters in Deaf Education and American Sign Language at Rochester Institute of Technology. He has been teaching ASL since 2009 and really enjoys helping his students excel and being able to communicate in ASL.

Tom is also fluent in French. During his free time, Tom enjoys signing and being part of the community theater.

Victoria Calabria – Italian Instructor

I was born in Argentina, but grew up in a small seaside town in northern Italy. I majored in English teaching in Buenos Aires and have worked in bilingual schools for 7 years. In addition, I have taught Italian and Spanish for 4 years to students from all over the world.

I love teaching languages because we can talk about many things, share experiences and get to know cultures. If you are interested in Italian culture, I will be happy to guide you and show you the wonders of my country!

Nina Russo – English Instructor

Nina was born and raised in Maryland. After the University and working a corporate job, she decided to pursue teaching. She worked to become certified and then temporarily moved to Rome to teach English to the Italian military.

She has been teaching for almost 5 years and loves interacting with students from many different parts of the world.