Spanish Teachers

Kim Andersen

Kim founded Capital Region Language Center (formerly Las Mariposas) in April of 2002.  She loves teaching both Spanish and English to Speakers of Other Languages. Her love of languages and culture began while going to University and living in Washington DC and then followed her first to public school in San Francisco and then later to Paraguay.  She has NYS certifications to teach both English and Spanish and enjoys teaching to all ages.  She and her husband also started a fair trade shop, Mango Tree Imports in May of 2006.

Gloria Batista

Gloria was raised in New York City in a Spanish-speaking household and is bilingual.  She received a B.S. from the University at Albany in political science with a Mmnor in Spanish and previously worked with the New York State Department of Labor where she translated for Spanish speaking applicants. She also assisted in the creation of a Spanish speaking hotline.  She loves teaching the preschool and early elementary Spanish classes with CRLC and makes her classes come alive with boundless energy. She has been teaching with Capital Region Language Center for more than 5 years.

Belkis Castro

Belkis Castro, a native Spanish speaker originally from Venezuela, moved to the US in 2008 with her family.   Belkis enjoys teaching both children and adults.   Her teaching style is systematic, but open and spontaneous  at the same time, allowing for creativity. She guides her students to learn Spanish by associating the similarities and differences of both language and culture. Belkis' passion for Spanish is contagious.  Prior to teaching Belkis enjoyed a career as an attorney.  If you are an attorney or a judge and are looking for a vocabulary-rich Spanish program, we have the teacher for you!  Whether children, youth or seniors, expect the class to be participatory and fun. 

Jennifer Dinkel

Jennifer learned Spanish while living in Chile, S.A. She is enamored of the country and the people. After a year and a half she returned to the states and earned a BA in Spanish, BS in Special Education, and an MSLT- Master of Second Language Teaching.  After moving to New York she completed her NYS certification and has enjoyed teaching in local public and private schools. She has experience teaching preschool children to adults.  Jen also has experience teaching ESL and informal interpreting.  She LOVES traveling, learning about other people, their languages and cultures and wants to help you enjoy the same. 

Charlene Grant

Charlene is a Spanish professor at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.  She is fluent in Spanish, French and Portuguese and has taught all of those languages at the college level.  She also focuses on Spanish and Hispanic literature and culture; Francophone literature and Maghrebi women writers.  She is a frequent traveler and her positive energy is contagious.

Jesús Martínez

Jesús is a native Spanish speaker born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. He received a B.S. in Communication from the University of Advanced Communications in Monterrey, Mexico and studied abroad in Madrid, Spain. Jesús immigrated to the United States in 2004 where he learned English. In 2008, he received his B.S in Adolescent Education and Spanish with honors from the State University of New York, College at Oneonta. Jesús is currently working to gain his Masters in Hispanic Literature and a minor in linguistics from the State University at Albany. Jesús has experience working for the New York State public school system where he has taught a variety of ages.  He enjoys teaching children and adults as well as sharing his knowledge of different cultures of Spanish speaking countries.  He feels that it is a great opportunity for people to learn and experience other cultures and languages.

Sara Zaidspiner-Leibo

Born and raised in Cuba, Sara immigrated to the United States where she learned English as a Second Language and gained a personal understanding of the difficulties involved in learning languages and navigating new cultures.  She studied education, linguistics, and second language acquisition at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.  Sara holds NYS permanent teaching certificates in Pre K – 6^th grade and K-12 Spanish. For many years, Sara coordinated a wide variety of professional development activities for educators in the capital region.  While part of her career was focused on teacher education and training, she has, over many years, taught nearly every grade level from first grade through adults in bilingual programs, ESL classes, pre-service teacher education, and Spanish.  She has travelled widely and attempted to learn several other languages.  Sara is immensely impressed by the commitment, interest, and hard work demonstrated by the students at CRLC.

Our fair trade store is located in downtown Ballston Spa / Art Alley . We invite you to come in and see our handmade products from 60+ countries.

  in Ballston Spa

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Capital Region Language Center is a full service language school offering Chinese, German, Spanish, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Russian and ESL.  With locations in Ballston Spa and Albany.  We are convenient to Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Clifton Park, Troy, Wilton and surrounding areas.  We offer both adult and children's classes.  We offer group classes, private instruction and tutoring.