Foreign Language Staff

Foreign Language Department Staff

_{^{Sidney Clein, Foreign Language Director}}_{^{sidney@tfli.org}}

_^Education:

^{TESL Certification from TFLI, Nashville, TN.}

^{Graphic/Display/Exhibit Design coursework at FIT in NYC.}

^{B.A. in Fine Arts from UNC at Chapel Hill, NC.}

^{Academic Year in Florence, Italy.}

^{High School Exchange Student in Colombia, SA.

Experience:}

^{Before moving to Nashville, Sidney spent 20 years as a struggling professional musician and actor in NYC which provided a culturally diverse environment in which to fail - a myriad of day jobs provided her with experience in Advertising, Graphic Design, Exhibit/Display Design, Management and Sales. In Nashville, her love for languages brought her to TFLI where she was TESL Certified, served 2 years as an ESL Instructor (TFLI & VUMC), then one year as the Assistant Director of the Foreign Language Department at TFLI prior to her current position of 4 years. Sidney has lived in Italy and South America and has traveled extensively in Europe and beyond...}^{Languages: English, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish. Great at ping-pong. Can't dance.}

Miranda Runcie, Assistant Foreign Language Director

miranda@tfli.org

Education:

B.A. in English, Truman State University

Experience:

Miranda studied at L'Abri Institute in Huemoz, Switzerland and at the International College of Seville in Seville, Spain. She instructed an Environmental Awareness class at Truman State University and volunteered in the campus recycling program. Miranda also spent a year teaching English classes to adults in Quito, Ecuador and to children at the Hacienda de Esperanza children’s home in Tabacundo, Ecuador.

Languages: English, Spanish

Maria Simpson, Senior Spanish Instructor

maria@tfli.org

Education:

B.A. in Education (major in ESL) Instituto Universitario Pedagógico de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela; Florida University, in Miami, Florida.

Experience:

A native of Venezuela, Maria taught ESL in high schools in Venezuela. She was the Assistant Director at the Bolivar and Bello Institute, in Kingston, Jamaica and taught in vocational and elementary schools in Plymouth, Montserrat and at Florida National College in Miami, Florida for two years. An Instructor at TFLI since 1993 as an independent contractor and as a staff member since 2000, Maria has traveled in Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the Caribbean.

Languages: Spanish, English