Native Spanish language tutors

Vanessa Montilla is originally from the beautiful city of Córdoba, in the south of Spain, but she moved to Barcelona, another beautiful city, at an early age. She has been teaching Spanish for many years, and students just love her. When she is not teaching, she is usually going to an art exhibition, cooking very traditional and very Spanish fish dishes, or reading. She reads dozens of books per year, and claims her favorite author is Enrique Vila Matas. She is a great singer, and she holds a Bachelor s Degree from Berklee College of Music. She can also dance flamenco. She is currently the School Director at Berges Institute NYC.

Juan Carlos Alvarez is from Madrid, Spain, and currently lives in Chicago. He attended Complutense University of Madrid and he earned a diploma from Fuerteventura 2000, a vocational training school in Puerto Rosario, Spain, as a Technical Specialist in Counseling and Family Therapy.

Juan Carlos has taught Spanish to students across the globe for more than 10 years from African refugees in a refugee camp in southern Algeria to Latin American immigrants in the adult education program at the Centro Romero on Chicago’s North Side. He also launched his own tutoring practice, Spanish Online, in 2013, and has taught students from the U.S.A., Great Britain, Singapore, and elsewhere.

Before settling in Chicago, Juan Carlos had lived previously for many years on the island of Fuerteventura, one of the seven islands that comprise Spain’s Canary Islands. He has also lived in Madrid (where he grew up), London, and Banjul, Gambia.

Besides teaching, Juan Carlos’s passion is for Yoga, historical fiction, and American coffee. Cooking Spanish paella every Sunday is almost a routine. He lives on Chicago’s Northwest Side with his Jack Russell Terrier, Flamenco, who followed him to the U.S. from Spain.

Sofía was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. At the age of thirteen she moved to Doha, Qatar, where she learned English and got an introduction to French and many other languages, cultures, religions, and traditions from all over the globe. Once she graduated high school in Qatar, she moved back to Colombia to study Modern Languages and Business Translation at Universidad EAN; there she reinforced her Spanish and English grammar and language skills, and learned French and Italian.

She has lived in Chicago for almost 4 years, during which she has worked as a healthcare interpreter in multiple hospitals of the city and its suburbs, an educational interpreter, a translator, and a Spanish teacher assistant.

Sofia highly believes that as you become fluent in another language, you find qualities and personality traits about yourself that you did not know you have; to some extent, like having another personality in that other language. Additionally she is proof that learning other languages helps improve concentration and memory.

Besides her passion for languages, she describes herself as an environmentalist and has an immense love for animals, dancing and acting. She is learning how to play the bass guitar and loves to watch true crime shows and anything related to the cosmos.

Nicolás Zuluaga holds a bachelor’s degree in Filosofía y Letras and in Spanish, French, and English Languages from Universidad de La Salle, and a Master’s Degree in Literature from Universidad Javeriana. Nicolás grew up in Bogotá, a metropolis with over 6.5 million people, which he loves for being the largest city in Colombia, the cradle of Pan-American arts and thought, and for being the place where he grew up and learned how to interact with people from different backgrounds, stories, and points of view. When he is not teaching, he is most likely to be reading, spending time with his wife, or playing fútbol.

Rolando González comes from Guadalajara, Mexico, known among other things for its Mariachi, its tequila, and its world-famous Feria Internacional del Libro. He has been teaching Spanish in New York City since 2011. In addition to knowing his own language through and through, he is also fluent in Italian and English.

He holds a degree in Science of Communication from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, Guadalajara, Mexico, and has worked as a journalist, Spanish-Italian interpreter, and teacher of both Spanish and Italian before moving to New York. More recently, he served as coordinator of the English program for Latin American immigrants at the Asociación Tepeyac of New York, with the sponsorship of New York Cares. In 2013, he co-authored and co-taught the Spanish program developed for The New York Public Library employees.

Nelson Navarrete is originally from Bogotá, Colombia. He has been teaching Spanish since 2006. Nelson’s teaching experience ranges from standard private and group lessons to career-focused technical programs including Business Spanish (BBVA, ZARA, Young and Rubicam and Philip Morris) and Medical Spanish (Albert Einstein Medical School and Mount Sinai Medical School). When he is not teaching, he is usually playing electric guitar, writing music, or being involved in some environmental or animal rights cause. Nelson holds a Bachelor’s degree in Film-Scoring from Berklee College of Music and a Master’s degree in Classical Composition from Lynn University.

Edgardo Salgado was born in Barranquilla, Colombia and raised not far from there in the northern part of the country where he acquired a bilingual education since an early age. While still in his childhood he developed a passion for drawing and other visual arts; and later also for language, specifically Spanish. At age 19 he moved to the U.S to pursue his studies in graphic arts in Florida and in 2014 he came to NYC looking for an environment to harness his career and creativity. He is currently finishing his studies in Linguistics after his passion for the science of language grew beyond Spanish alone. Edgardo loves explaining and helping anybody who shows interests in learning Spanish or asks questions about the language; he can go on about it if prompted to. He has been working as a freelance illustrator, translator, interpreter and Spanish tutor since he moved to NYC.

When he's not drawing, reading about linguistics or learning a language (currently French and trying to start with Greek), he’s most likely enjoying a book, a movie, a concert, an art show or a new food spot; or simply playing soccer and cruising around on a skateboard.

María Chanamé was born in Lima, Peru. She studied in an Italian high school and came to the US in 2009. She has a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Spanish with a concentration in Literature from City College of New York, where she has also been a Spanish tutor. Additionally, she has participated in research at Stanford University in Peruvian poetry. She’s practiced ballet for 7 years and loves books and classic Colombian coffee. She’s also a big fan of Real Madrid soccer team, and she can cook amazing Peruvian food. Her favorite writers are José de Espronceda and Alfonsina Storni.

Alan Zuluaga holds a bachelor’s degree in video arts and technology from Unilatina, in Colombia, and a bachelor’s degree in drama from The City College of New York. He is also in the process of obtaining his master's in education at New Jersey City University. He has taught Spanish for over 10 years, both to kids in bilingual families that don't want their children to lose their Spanish and adults in general.

Alan has traveled widely around South America, learning, among other things, the different Spanish accents and dialects from varied countries that use Spanish as its primary language. Besides traveling, he likes to attend Broadway and off-Broadway plays, write drama, and produce theater, film and video.

Diana Niampira was born in Pasca, Cundinamarca, a little town located in the Colombian mountains. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, and she is a Specialist in Environment and Local Development. In 2011 Diana arrived in New York City to study English, and she fell in love with the language and culture. Diana is also a certified Community Health Worker and Health Educator who focuses on mental health and community issues. She has taught Spanish for 6+ years. Recently she earned her dual certification as an Interpreter and Translator from Hunter College. Diana loves teaching, reading, walking, painting, dancing, and exploring different cultures.

Gloria Alveal was born in Chile, famous for its wines, the beautiful Andes mountains, and Chilean Patagonia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English-Spanish translation from Universidad de Concepción and a graduate degree in education. In Chile, Gloria worked as a translator and an interpreter for many big national and international corporations. She was also an academic coordinator and taught English and Spanish for over 20 years before moving to the US in 2015. Once in NYC, she started teaching Spanish for private students as well as corporate programs. 

On the weekends, Gloria’s happy place is the roller-skating rink when the weather is nice. She is also an animal lover; she is a volunteer with the ACC animal care center in NYC to foster dogs and cats before they find their forever home.

Dariana is a Venezuelan native. She has been teaching Spanish for more than 15 years. As soon as she moved to the United States in 2001, she established her own Spanish tutoring business and developed a successful tutoring curriculum and methodology. She continued teaching Spanish throughout the years while becoming a mindfulness and somatic coach with a background and research in human behavior and neuroscience. Dariana also holds a bachelor's degree in advertising and marketing and a Neurolinguistic Programming License. In her spare time, she enjoys salsa dancing, nature, and traveling to learn about other cultures and new languages. 

Claudia Montoya is originally from México. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Flute Performance from Oakland University (Rochester, Michigan), and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Flute Performance at Mannes School of Music. Claudia started teaching both music lessons and Spanish at a young age and has been equally passionate about performing as she is about teaching ever since. Claudia loves to travel, attend concerts, discover new music, photography and appreciates culture and all forms of art.

Silas Bermudez is originally from Venezuela. Silas holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and the USPTA Tennis Professional Title. He has been teaching languages for more than five years. His true passion is to help his students reach their potential. He embarked on a new chapter when he moved to the United States in 2019 and fell in love with New York, where he has to interact with different languages and cultures daily. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, cooking, and learning new skills.

José González was born and raised in Barcelona (Spain), known for its architecture and its Mediterranean lifestyle. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. After working as a sports commentator on the radio, he moved to Italy to learn the language and decided to become a certified Spanish teacher.

Since 2015 he has taught Spanish for foreigners in schools and as a private teacher in Spain, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. José moved with his wife to Boston in September 2023. In his free time, he likes running and playing basketball, reading and discovering more about Boston and the United States and going to music concerts with his wife.