about us

 
 

Virginia Talley

My name is Virginia Talley and I am the founder of the Language House. My first trip to Spain in 1997 completely changed my life. I was 19 years old and I had the good fortune of walking the medieval pilgrimage, El Camino de Santiago, across northern Spain with Sewanee’s summer study abroad program. From that point on, I was completely hooked on Spanish language and culture, and I could not wait to go back to Spain. I returned my junior year to live with a family in the Basque Country and to study in Sevilla. I went on to complete my Master’s and Ph.D. in Spanish language, literature, and culture at the University of Virginia. My curiosity for learning more about other cultures led me to study and live in Southern France, Chile, and Argentina.

Following my passion for teaching, I spent four years as a Lecturer of Spanish at the University of Richmond, in Virginia, and seven years teaching middle school and high school at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, Texas. I taught at Austin Community College with high school and adult learners for two years before opening the Language House in February, 2019. My love of teaching, travel, and Spanish and Latin American culture has been a natural fit for leading numerous trips to Spain and Argentina over the past eleven years. Nowadays I am super excited to devote all of my time to teaching my students about Spanish language and culture!

In my spare time I love traveling, hiking, cooking, coffee, and spending time with my partner and our two dogs, Pepe the pug, and Emiliano, the hound-beagle mix. We are happy to call Austin, Texas, home and we love traveling the globe in search of new places and friends.

Gabi Kothenbeutel

Hola a todos! I'm Gabi! I am thrilled that you might be joining this Spanish journey with me! I am originally from a small town in Springfield, Missouri. I found a love of languages on my first trip outside the country to Monterrey, Mexico! I studied a Bachelor's Degree in Spanish and Linguistics at Missouri State University, where I really fell in love with the Spanish language! I moved to Southern Spain after graduating to work as a language assistant, which I did for 2 years. Then, three years ago, I moved to beautiful Austin, Texas where I have been working as a high school Spanish teacher. I love teaching and watching others learn! I hope to make this a great experience!

Ramiro Juarez

Hola y mucho gusto! Me llamo Ramiro Juárez y soy de México. If you were able to put that together, then you are well on your way to learning Spanish! And if you didn't, it's OK! I will teach you the ways and you will be speaking Spanish in no time at all. I am from Mexico and I was raised on the border in Brownsville, TX. I fell in love with teaching Spanish late in my time at the University of Texas at Austin where I completed a Bachelor's Degree in Latin American Studies. I also finished a Master's Degree in Spanish at UT-Brownsville. Later, I worked on another graduate degree at the University of Houston and started my career teaching at Rice University, University of St. Thomas and Houston Community College. Currently, I am a Marketing Manager for a Mortgage Company during the day and I teach YOU Spanish at night! I look forward to showing you the exciting opportunity that is in front of you. Learning Spanish will open the doors to a whole new world. You will benefit greatly and I look forward to ensuring this is a great experience for you!s, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Natasha Moushegian

¡HOLA! My name is Natasha and I'm originally from Dallas, Texas. Having grown up in a bilingual household, I was fortunate to learn Spanish and English simultaneously as a child, while also experiencing a wonderful mix of cultures among my family and close friends from various parts of Latin America.I started studying Spanish formally for the first time in college and graduated with a B.A. in Spanish Translation & Interpretation. Once I got started teaching language classes for adults, I decided to continue my studies and completed a M.A. in Linguistics and TESOL. As a native Texan and a lifelong language learner, I am so excited for the opportunity to share in community, language, and culture with you all here in Austin, Texas!

Bryan Winkler

¡Hola a todxs! My name is Bryan, and I'm originally from Ft. Worth, Texas. I grew up always wanting to learn another language, so I ended up taking Spanish classes in high school and quickly fell in love with the language—I couldn't get enough! I decided to major in Spanish and studied abroad in Madrid and Sevilla before completing my M.A. in Spanish literature and moving to Northwest Spain to teach English. I'm currently working on my PhD in Iberian and Latin American Cultures and Literatures at UT, focusing primarily on contemporary Spanish media. In my free time, I like to cook, listen to podcasts, and travel as much as I can. I truly enjoy teaching and sharing my love for Spanish cultures and can't wait to see you in class soon!

Miriam Bleiweiss

Hola, I’m Miriam! I was born in New York, and lived there until the age of 13. That’s when my father decided we’d move to where he was born and raised – Buenos Aires, Argentina. My younger brother and I weren’t brought up bilingual in Spanish, so it was a case of literally getting off the airplane at Ezeiza International Airport, and being unable to ask how to get to the bathroom. Nada. Oh the joy we kids felt when Mom said “No American School for you.” That joy lasted for a whole 30 seconds. We were summarily informed that we were going to go into the public school system in Buenos Aires. Our logical argument that we couldn’t because we didn’t know Spanish didn’t work. All she said to us was that didn’t matter, “You’ll learn.” We sure did! It was a process that taught me you have to make the mistake to learn (not just with Spanish, by the way.) I know that I made exactly 1,000,000,000 mistakes in real time, and got myself into some embarrassing situations due to some very incorrect and sometimes highly inappropriate word choices (in my defense, the words sounded sooooo similar!) Fast forward to now. I can confidently say I manage Spanish at the native-speaker level. By day, I’m a medical translator for a state agency here in Austin, Texas. In the evenings, I have fun teaching Spanish. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a mistake you can make that I didn’t make myself. A little more about me: I hold a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Iowa. Mom says my first word when starting to talk was “horsey.” I love horses! Personal fun time is spent doing HIIT classes, taking baking/cooking classes, and dabbling in art classes (love the pottery wheel.) I really look forward to meeting you, and helping you along on your wonderful and exciting dive into Spanish language and culture.

Laura Alvarez

Hola! My name is Laura and I’m from Mexico City. I’m 30 years old. I studied administration and business. My interests are skating, yoga, traveling, and meeting new people. I am the social events coordinator for the Language House and I can’t wait to share my enthusiasm and passion for the Spanish language and culture with you! I also teach private and semi-private conversation classes to give students more practice and confidence with their spoken Spanish.