Who we are

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 my school. I also worked at International Studies Abroad and gained valuable insight into the world of study abroad for college students. 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 exploring new places, playing tennis, hiking, cooking, wine tasting, 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.

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.

I'm a graduate student at UT interested generally in sociolinguistics, and specifically in language and gender in Spanish and Portuguese. I am also a TA for the department, where I've taught both languages at multiple levels. I moved to Austin a year ago from the Bay Area, and I have also spent time living in Argentina and Brazil! I've been a language teacher in many capacities since 2016, and I am beyond thrilled to continue my trajectory via the Language House! Ask me about phonetics, Portuguese, Spanish dialects, ceramics. Tell me about your pets, your hobbies, what you love about Austin!

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!