Staff
Teresa Valdez, PhD
Director
(585) 275-5156
tvaldez@ur.rochester.edu
Matt Confer
Department Coordinator
(585) 275-6701
mconfer@ur.rochester.edu
Program Assistants
Natália Bigolin Groff
Hello!! My name is Natalia, and I am from Brazil. I am part of the class of 2027 majoring in Mechanical engineering with a Music minor. In my free time, I enjoy dancing and doing yoga. I am very passionate about the diversity of Brazilian cultures, and I love living in a culturally diverse community :)
Zaynab Khan
Hi everyone, my name is Zaynab Khan! I am a part of the class of 2026 and I'm majoring in Economics. I love learning about different languages and immersing myself in various unique cultures. Outside of school, I enjoy thrifting, traveling, and trying new restaurants.
Hiroka Kurita
Hello! My name is Hiroka Kurita, but you can call me Hiro! I use she/they pronouns and I am a sophomore intending to major in psychology and minor in Spanish. I am planning to be active in Rice Crew. I love cooking (although I'm not great at it) and origami!
Khue Nguyen
Hi! My name is Khue (Katie), originally from Vietnam, and I am part of the class of 2025. I major in Business Finance and Data Science. I have studied French and Chinese and learning languages is one of my biggest passions in life.
Sarah Pirzada
Hi! I’m Sarah Pirzada and I’m from Queens, New York. I’m a part of the class of 2027 and I’m majoring in Economics.
Julia Owsianska
Cześć! My name is Julia and I will be tutoring Polish. I was born in Poland but have lived in England my whole life and continued to speak Polish at home. I’m in the class of ‘26 at UofR, majoring in biochemistry with a bioethics minor. I love traveling and visiting new places as well as running! I’m also a big supporter of danford over douggie.
Areti Tsirikaki
Hey! My name is Areti, and I am from Athens, Greece. I am a part of the 2025 class, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Italian. I am also a member of the varsity volleyball team, The Women’s Network, and Morgan’s Message. In my free time, I love spending time with my friends, watching romcoms, and playing beach volleyball!
Lissen Turner
Hi! My name is Lissen, and I'm in the class of 2026. I'm majoring in ASL and double minoring in psychology and political science. I am also involved with ASL club and Sihir Bellydance club!
Language Tutors
American Sign Language—Lissen Turner
Hi! My name is Lissen, and I'm in the class of 2026. I'm majoring in ASL and double minoring in psychology and political science. I am also involved with the ASL club and Sihir Bellydance Club!
Arabic
To be announced.
Chinese—Amy Zheng
Hi, my name is Amy and I am from Queens, NY. I am a member of the class of 2025, majoring in International Relations with a minor in Digital Media Studies. In my downtime, I like to play volleyball, cafe hop with my friends, and binge watch reality shows!
French—Génia Abbey
Salut! My name is Génia, I use she/her pronouns, and I'm from outside of Buffalo, NY. I'm a sophomore intending to triple major in French, music, and comparative literature. In my free time, I enjoy reading, doing yoga, being in nature, and spending time with my dog, Riona.
German—Elena Bachmann
Hi! I'm Elena Bachmann, and I'm a member of the class of 2027. My majors are German and Economics. On campus, I am involved with the Campus Times, Outing Club, and Women's Club Soccer. Some hobbies of mine are skiing, singing, and reading.
Ancient Greek and Latin—Claire Wilcox
Hi! My name is Claire, and I’m from the Bay Area in CA. I’m in the class of 2026, pursuing a double major in classics and philosophy. The languages I’ll be working with this year are Latin and Ancient Greek. I’m passionate and excited about both so please feel free to ask me about them. In my free time, I’m a member of the club sailing team here at UR. I’m also a part of a book club, and I like to cook/bake. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Hebrew—Lia Polster
Hello! My name is Lia Polster and I am from Cleveland, OH. I am a member of the class of 2027, majoring in Linguistics with intended minors in Film and Media Studies and Computer Science. In my free time, I enjoy dancing (any style) and learning bits of new languages.
Italian—Areti Tsirikaki
Hey! My name is Areti, and I am from Athens, Greece. I am a part of the 2025 class, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Italian. I am also a member of the varsity volleyball team, The Women’s Network, and Morgan’s Message. In my free time, I love spending time with my friends, watching romcoms, and playing beach volleyball!
Japanese—Hiroka Kurita
Hello! My name is Hiroka Kurita, but you can call me Hiro! I use she/they pronouns and I am a sophomore intending to major in psychology and minor in Spanish. I am planning to be active in Rice Crew. I love cooking (although I'm not great at it) and origami!
Korean—Juneha Seo
Hello! My name is Juneha and I am from Seoul, South Korea. I am part of class 2027, double majoring in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Psychology. I am interested in learning new languages (currently learning ASL) and cultures. Also, I enjoy playing the piano or listening to music in my free time!
Polish—Julia Owsianska
Cześć! My name is Julia and I will be tutoring Polish. I was born in Poland but have lived in England my whole life and continued to speak Polish at home. I’m in the class of ‘26 at UofR, majoring in biochemistry with a bioethics minor. I love traveling and visiting new places as well as running! I’m also a big supporter of danford over douggie.
Portuguese—Natália Bigolin Groff
Hello!! My name is Natalia, and I am from Brazil. I am part of the class of 2027 majoring in Mechanical engineering with a Music minor. In my free time, I enjoy dancing and doing yoga. I am very passionate about the diversity of Brazilian cultures, and I love living in a culturally diverse community :)
Russian—Timothy Kulchitsky
Hey everyone, my name is Tim, and I’m a computer science major with clusters in linguistics and music theory. I was born in Alaska, but I know Russian from my parents, who have Russian and Ukrainian roots. Outside of coding, I love traveling, language learning, photography, and cooking.
Spanish—Carolina Neira Gorriti
Hola a todos! I'm Carolina, a 2nd-year MBA student at Simon Business School. I'm originally from Peru (yes, home of Machu Picchu, llamas, and the best food in the world), so Spanish is my native language! I majored in Industrial Engineering back home. I love traveling, exploring new foods, and taking endless sunset photos. See you around!