Meet our LangoKids Irvine Director and Teachers 

 

I am Cristina G. Versteegh, owner and director of LangoKids Irvine. I am a native Spanish speaker from Colombia. I moved to the United States to pursue my Master's degree in English and World Literature after having two other degrees: Specialist in Bilingual Education and Bachelor in Modern Languages Teaching. I have been teaching for 20 years and I have loved every day of it. My father is a teacher and I grew up seeing his love and dedication for the profession. I finished my studies in PA and came to live in CA. Here, I enjoy my free time doing fun things with my husband and sons. We share our time playing indoors or going on outdoor adventures like hiking, running, off-roading, traveling, eating local and international food, and watching movies together. When I am on my own, I like exercising, reading, connecting with God, visiting with friends and family, and I have to admit it...thinking about work and how to improve our services. I love having the satisfaction of the work well done and want to be able to satisfy the needs of the people I work for at Lango: the kids, parents, and of course the teachers, who are a vital part of our project. My 16 year old son speaks perfect Spanish and now he is working as a cashier at a Latino market and he is able to communicate with his clientele. I have a 7 year old and a 3 year old whose first languages were Spanish and ASL. Gabriel communicated full sentences in ASL even before he used verbal language and that was amazing and helpful, now he speaks using full sentences in Spanish with me and in English with his dad. Our toddler is also now fluent in Spanish and English as well. In the future we hope to add more languages.  Our 3 kids sure make his dad (who doesnt's speak Spanish) very proud! Watch a few of my kids' talents below and remember, your children can do it too:

Follow  us on Tube and see Gabriel speaking in Sign Language and Spanish. This is a great guide for teachers, parents to be, and care givers. Enjoy!

We love books and story time at home. Watch Gabriel reading a book with me.

Note: Alex is now 15 and had the experience of living a whole year in Colombia. He didn't quite look Colombian but he sounded like one. See photos below: 

My advice to you is: When looking for a language program ask if the owner/director has fully bilingual kids at home. We support you well because we live it and we love it! My kids and your kids are the reason of our existence and I thank you for entrusting them to us. I look forward to meeting you and your kids and share a session full of games, words in foreign languages, giggles, songs, dancing, and much more.

 

LangoKids Irvine's Awesome Team of Teachers

Spanish

Meet Maestra Lety.  Hola, Soy Maestra Leticia. I was born in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. After I finished high school, I decided to become an exchange student in the U.S. to learn English and to learn about the culture. I had a great experience living with a really nice family. When my school year finished I went back home to start my college education. My family owns a school and I have been around kids my entire life. During and after obtaining my education, I started co-teaching a Kindergarten class. After two years of loving what I was doing I took over the class and became the main teacher. It was a great experience and I did it for 8 years. In 1999 I came to the U.S. I met and later married my husband, Michael. We have two kids, Caitlin and Ian. They are both bilingual as I think it's a great opportunity for our kids to learn about different languages and cultures! I love being a part of LangoKids Irvine and to have the pleasure to teach Spanish to your children. In my free time I enjoy cooking, expend time with my friends, and of course travel to Mexico to visit my family. Maestra Lety is also LangoKids Irvine program coordinator and she keeps the school running when Maestra Cristina is absent. We love maestra Lety and we are so thankful for all she does for us!

  

_{Meet Maestra Giovana. Hola! My name is Giovana Arroyo and I am originally from Lima-Peru. I hold a BA from UNIFE – Sagrado Corazon’s University in Psychology with specialization in Clinical & Children programs.  UNIFE is one of the most prestigious universities. It's considered one of the best business schools in Peru and top business schools worldwide. After more than 13 years of experience in the field of children's' psychology working for Maria Nicole School, I decided to move to California with my husband Ricardo and son Jorge in 2011. There, I started a new career as a Spanish teacher. I have a strong knowledge and cultural awareness of Spanish-speaking cultures throughout the world. I am a native Spanish speaker.  Currently, I am attending school, taking English classes, and Children Development courses. I’m planning to start working on my Psychology’s Master in 2018. In my free time, I also enjoy going to the movies, taking Zumba classes, and going to the gym.  My favorite thing to do is spending as much time as I can with my husband, son, and extended Peruvian family. The best abilities and interests to describe myself are: I’m a generous, friendly, and patient person.  I also like to help others and make them feel good about themselves. I love to be part of LangoKids Irvine’s team, and Spanish is the subject I teach, but overall, my objective is to motivate, inspire, encourage, and lead your children.} 

 

 

¡Hola! Soy maestra Ingrid. I was born and raised in Mexico City, therefore my native language is Spanish. In 2013, my husband was transferred to the US and we choose Southern California to be our new home. We never expected such a change would have made us grow as much as family as individually. Raising my two wonderful kids in a bilingual environment inspired me to teach Spanish to little ones. During the last years I have worked as a volunteer and student supervisor in my children' school. In 2019, I started as Spanish teacher in a Charter School. This  opened a new horizon to me and ignited my passion to teach.  I received a BA in Graphic Design from UIA (Mexico) and a Master Degree in Marketing from Universidad Anáhuac (Mexico). I worked for 3M Company (Mexico) about 15 years mainly in business area. My favorite things to do when I am not teaching are spending time with my family, cooking and getting away to nature. I love museums, photography and painting. I am very happy to be part of LangoKids team and it’s a pleasure to be your child's teacher. 

 

 

 

Hola, soy maestra Karina. I was born and raised in Mexico and I’m incredibly proud of my origins. My country is rich in culture and my native language, Spanish, is one of the most poetic of all languages. I completed my undergraduate studies back in Mexico as an accountant, besides my major one of my greatest passions in life is teaching, I began as a religion tutor, then I helped as a Kindergarten teacher, I also participated as an aid at the PTA for a while and last year I started teaching at LangoKids and truly fell in love with this school. I considered myself a very committed person and I will do my best to help my students to develop new competences in order to support the mission of this beautiful organization. One of my beliefs is that kids learn better when they are having fun, and I am patient, caring and understanding as a teacher. I also enjoy helping elderly and ill people which is what I did while before I moved to USA. I’m happily married, my husband and I have two kids: Maria and Luis. My children know the importance of being bilingual, we are very proud of them because they handle both languages with ease. A little bit more about me, I really enjoy hanging out with family and friends, love outdoor exercising, like to visit museums and I’m a huge Disney Fan. Come and enjoy a class with me!

 

Hola! Me llamo Fatima Cruz Hernandez. I am a first generation Mexican-American. I am from Anaheim, California but proudly represent my Mexican culture. My family is originally from Puebla, a culturally rich state from Mexico, but then relocated to Orange County, California, where I was born. Gratefully, my parents continued their rich cultural traditions at home as I grew up, which is why Spanish became my first language. Due to my parents’ parenting, hard work and sacrifices, I was able to flourish in my academic and social life. After graduating high school with honors and with a Seal of Biliteracy in 2018, I received my Associates Degree in Interdisciplinary Arts and Human Expression from Fullerton College in 2020, soon after I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish from California State University of Fullerton this past May 2023. I am now working on my Teaching Credential. I decided to go forward with education as part of my career due to my personal experiences throughout my education and work, and the love I have for teaching. I also decided to focus in Spanish hoping to keep my culture and traditions alive throughout generations within my family and to share with others around me as well, more so because I got to see many people along the way lose the language as they only spoke English, which is equally as important but way cooler to say you speak both. My favorite thing to do while not teaching is going on trips with my family and friends, getting to know new places, and trying new foods. I became a part of LangoKids Irvine August 2022 and I am super grateful to continue teaching there and supporting the kids and their parents in their journey of learning Spanish.

 

 

 

Hola, soy Maestra Nancy! I have been a teacher since 2018 after getting my undergraduate degree at Universidad Central del Ecuador in Quito-Ecuador, my motherland. I was born in Quito, Ecuador´s capital, a beautiful city with a splendid downtown´s architecture, amazing historical places, and delicious food. When I started as a teacher the targeted ages, I was tutoring were middle and high school children, in the mathematics subject. All the time I spent at that school help me build my confidence as a teacher and taught me class control techniques as well as empathy to work with children, it created good memories that I save as precious moments, and good friends. In 2022, I arrived at the U.S. looking for better opportunities, this is how I got to Lango Kids Irvine, a place in which I do what I love, teach. I can step in my students lives to give them my best knowledge of my mother-language, Spanish, a beautiful language and the second most spoken language in the world, a very important reason to learn it; considered it a tool that will open new doors for you. When I’m not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family, especially go to the library or go to practice some sports. I will look forward to seeing you in my Spanish classes at LangoKids Irvine.

 

Let our wonderful team of teachers impact your child's present and future with our lessons and care...you won't regret it!