Meet Our Instructors
Our team includes more than 50 experienced linguists, with instructors based here in Charlottesville and across the U.S. and around the world. Together, they bring language, culture, and real-life experience into every lesson, creating learning that’s personal, engaging, and human.
Italian: Stella Mattioli, M.A.
Originally from Italy, (from Poggio a Caiano, the sister city of Charlottesville!), Stella brings both academic expertise and firsthand knowledge of Italian language and culture to her teaching.
Meet Christina Ball, Ph.D.
Meet Christina Ball, founder of Speak! Language Center. A Yale-trained Italianist, Fulbright Scholar, and lifelong language learner, Christina has spent more than 30 years helping people connect through language, culture, and conversation.
Italian: Anna Bakalian, A.A.
AnnaMaria is very knowledgeable about the cultural issues in learning Italian to speak and live as an Italian. Anna Maria worked for 10 years as a corporate travel agent and 5 years in Milano for a Foreign Consulate.
Italian: Giulia Gavin, B.A.
She was inspired to learn other Romance languages early on; Italian, her native language along with English, and soon after, French, and Spanish.
Public Speaking: André Luck
“I enjoy helping people overcome their fears and build confidence to achieve their professional goals.“
Meet Nattachya Olivares Bost, M.A.
Nattachya loves helping students build confidence while discovering the language and the cultures behind it. Her classes are personalized, engaging, and designed to make learning both practical and enjoyable.
Czech: Jan Čihák, PhD
“Language is the key, but culture is what opens the door. I believe that learning means discovering, and I love guiding my students through the Czech language while introducing them to the traditions, stories, and perspectives that bring it to life.”
Spanish: Franco Perez, Cert. ELE
“I am fascinated by well-applied pedagogy, so I studied to teach Spanish as a second language. My favorite teaching method is the "flipped classroom" and I like my students to feel as comfortable as possible in my lessons.”
Spanish: Jesús Jávita Fernández, Ph.D.
He has been teaching for more than 15 years. He has lived in Albacete, Valencia, Auburn (AL). He loves to spend his time watching movies, reading and playing board games.
Japanese: Yukari Leiser
She has been teaching elementary school to high school students, as well as adult learners, for over 15 years in Japan and in the U.S.
Spanish: Dayra Fernández, M.A.
“Everyone is meant to learn languages, as that is at the very base of human existence: to communicate.”
Korean: Insoo Ma, MBA
“Sharing Korean with students feels like inviting them into a part of my life, and I love watching them enjoy the language as it becomes familiar and comfortable.”
Speak! is about CONNECTION!
Many of our favorite moments happen when teachers and students learn, laugh, and connect beyond the lesson.
