Instructors

Our instructors include local language teachers, staff and graduate scholars at Yale, as well as heritage speakers of the local community.

Abbey Reynolds (Kiswahili)

I am currently a student in the African Studies MA program at Yale. I have studied Kiswahili intensively over the last two years as a Critical Language Scholar and as a Boren Scholar in Nairobi, Kenya. During my undergraduate studies at the University of Central Florida, I studied political science and philosophy. Outside of school, I love listening to new music and reading historical fiction novels.

Anita Carney (Italian)

I was born and raised in Italy for the first 27 yrs of my life.I have a Master degree in Brain Based Teaching and a B.S.Ed. in Italian and Spanish.I have been teaching both languages at Trumbull High School since 2006. I also studied Frenchfor 11 yrs.I started working at Yale teaching Italian in the World Language Program in 2000.In my free time, I love being at the beach as much as possible, walking, paddle boarding orrelaxing.

Chie Yamamoto (Japanese)

I was born in Japan and came to the USA as a high school exchange student in Long Island, New York.  I graduated from Rhode Island College with B.A in Japanese Studies and have been teaching Japanese language and culture.  I have taught at Brown University, Upward Bound program at Rhode Island College, and local schools in RI.  I also have been teaching at Japanese Language School in Greater Hartford since 2018.  I enjoy dancing at Zumba class in my spare time and love to explore the different languages and cultures around the world.

Cynthia Bridgewater (German)

I am from Germany and have been living internationally since 2006. Teaching languages is my passion, which I have been practicing for over ten years. I hold a B.A. in Chinese Studies from Julius-Maximilians-University (Wuerzburg, Germany) an MSc in Differentiated Instruction from Graceland University (Lamoni, IA) and am completing a Master’s of Teaching World Languages (Queens College, NYC).

Hanan Elkamah (Arabic)

I am a native speaker of Arabic and graduated from Alexandria University with a BA in accounting and an associate degree in early childhood education. I am a certified teacher through The Alternate Route to Certification to teach the Arabic Language to grades K-12. I teach Arabic at Wilbur Cross high school and World CLASS at Yale. I have also been a coordinator and Arabic teacher at Yale-NHPS Summer Program since 2016. I am passionate for educating today’s children about Arabic and the culture of Arabic speaking countries.

Mijin Her (Korean)

I have been teaching Korean and Korean history in local Korean schools for many years. I have a B.A of Educational Psychology from Sookmyung Women’s University in Korea and a Master degree of Research, Statistics, and Measurement in Education from Southern Connecticut State University.  I have a true passion for working with language learners.

 

Nataliya Danchenko (Russian)

I graduated from Kyiv’s National Linguistic University and became a language educator. Throughout my teaching career I’ve had the opportunity to educate children of all ages. I have been working at a Ukrainian private school here in New Haven for the past 15 years and teaching Russian & Ukrainian at our program at Yale for the past 6. I look forward to returning again this year!

Thais Vianna (Portuguese)

I am from Rio de Janeiro, and I am currently a Fulbright Portuguese Language Teaching Assistant at Yale. I majored in English language and Literature at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ) and recently got a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature at the same university.