Former MSU FLTAs
Mr. Yaqoob AlHammadi, United Arab Emirates/Arabic
Mr. Yaqoob Alhammadi graduated from United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, with a BA in Social Services. He has worked for over 20 years serving the youth of his community in various social service advisor positions with Al Ain Educational Zone and the Ministry of Education. He has continually sought out professional development opportunities, including training in the US and Canada. He is excited to be a guide and a mentor to MSU students to develop a fair understanding of the Arabic society, the university life and living culture in the UAE and other Arab nations, and motivate them to explore the beauty of the diverse Arabic culture and language.
Ms. Madina Dokhova, Russia/Russian
Ms. Madina Dokhova graduated from Kabardino-Balkarian State University majoring in Philology (Teacher of English) with an honors degree. Constantly working on her professional development, she has worked in public schools as well as private language schools. She cares about her students and believes that building rapport is essential. She is very sociable and easy-going. She aims not only to teach a language, but also to broaden students’ horizons and help them view the world from a different perspective. Growing up bilingual (Russian and Kabardian) taught her the importance and the beauty of cultural interaction, and she is always looking forward to new experiences with different cultures.
Ms. Wen-Ling “Loreina” Hsien, Taiwan/Chinese
Ms. Loreina Wen-Ling Hsien has been working as the student affairs coordinator at the International Chinese Language Program (ICLP) at National Taiwan University. Her main duty is to plan and implement student trips, cultural activities, and language activities. She explores new adventures, ranging from scaling high mountains to experiencing nature and wildlife in indigenous tribes. She comes up with unique itineraries, such as combining beautiful nature with indigenous cultures, and providing various opportunities for international students to know Taiwan through hands-on experiences and direct engagement with local people across the island. She has also joined Chinese teacher-training programs and workshops on weekends to enhance her knowledge working as a teacher in the Chinese immersion environment at ICLP, and she has received a national certificate to teach Chinese as a second language. Prior to that, she earned her BA in Foreign Languages and Literature from National Taiwan University. During that time, she was an exchange student at Queen’s University in Canada. She also studied in the Language, Culture, and Education in a Globalized World summer program at the University of Mannheim, Germany, and participated in a cognitive neuroscience summer program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. She has traveled around the world and is very passionate about cultural exchange. Outside of work, she enjoys jogging and exploring in the mountains, to experience nature both close up and in grand vistas. She is also training to become a certified tour guide, equipped to communicate and share the richness of life across cultures.
Ms. Selvihan Kurt, Turkey/Turkish
Ms. Selvihan Kurt graduated from Department of Turkish Language and Literature, Boğaziçi University, in 2011. She earned my MA degree from Department of History, Boğaziçi University in 2015 and is currently a PhD candidate at Department of Art History, Istanbul Technical University. She has been teaching Turkish to foreigners since 2015. In her free time, she likes reading and watching movies, attending film festivals and history conferences. She is also quite enthusiastic to travel and experience different cultures.
Ms. Sumbal Sarwar, Pakistan/Urdu
Ms. Sumbal Sarwar earned her Masters in Linguistics from Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan. She teaches English language to the undergraduate students at Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi. She believes learning any language is a tool of empowerment and is an opportunity to be expressive and connect with the world. She uses her experiences being visually impaired to help others–she volunteers at a school for the visually impaired children and she writes blogs and speaks publically to create disability awareness in her society.
Ms. Srishti Singh, India/Hindi
Ms. Srishti Singh is pursuing her Ph. D in Linguistics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Her major is Computational Linguistics and her research is focused on Domain Specific Multi-word Expressions for healthcare sector. She earned her M. Phil in 2015 from JNU, India for developing first big Corpus and Statistical POS tagger for Bhojpuri language which is published in a book form and available for researchers.
Ms. Singh is a highly motivated researcher. She is awarded with BHU medal for securing 1st position in Masters (Linguistics) and Best Student Paper Award at ICON Conference 2018 for detailed Grammatical Sketch of ‘Banarasi’. So far, she has published a number of significant peer reviewed research papers with reputed International Conferences & Journals like LREC, LTC etc and served as reviewer.
As Teaching Assistant she has taught undergrad courses in Linguistics and Computational Linguistics. She has worked in Govt. of India sponsored project and her association with NLP industry dates back to 2013 as Senior Research Consultant and Linguist (2016-18). As a teacher of language she has taught English to Senior Secondary in sponsorship with British Council.
To carve her interest in art and culture she has actively participated in university events and activities like organizing conferences, events and cultural fests where she anchored events and won several prizes for competitions like Classical Dance, Rangoli, Sketching, Painting, Poster & Drama.
As Hindi FLTA at Michigan State University, Ms. Singh wishes to share the ancient & folk art and its beautiful shift to modernity from different parts of India. She also aims at utilizing her linguistic abilities to make language learning more practically oriented & interesting for learners at every level. Sharing scientific values behind cultural practices from her country, observe and understand the sciences and values from different cultures across world and explore a new dimension of socio-linguistics to her is one of her future goals and expectations from the Fulbright FLTA program.
Ms. Sarah Tawfik Abdelrahman, Egypt/Arabic
Ms. Sarah AbdelRahman earned her BA in English language and its literature from Cairo University Art College (English Department.) Currently She is working on her MA which focuses on enhancing the reading comprehension skills for Egyptians EFL learners. She is an English instructor for both children and adults. She has a great interest in learning and teaching languages as she believes it is the best way to connect people all over the world. She volunteers to teach English for children and participates in many events related to teaching English as a second language. She also loves reading English literature.
Mr. Olamide Eniola, Nigeria/Yoruba
Mr. Mohd Raghibul Haque, India/Urdu
Mr. Mohd Raghibul Haque graduated from MumtazPost Graduate College Lucknow in English, Urdu and Arab Culture. While there, he won several awards including Best Anchor of the Year and the Shujaat Ali Sandilvi award for serving Urdu throughout his school and college life. Later he moved to the University of Lucknow for his master’s degree in English literature. For the past several years, he has been teaching English language and literature to various Indian academic and non-academic students as well as to the aspirants of the prestigious competitive exams such as SSC and CLAT. He also worked as an editor of an Urdu monthly magazine “Al-Shabab”. Being passionate about Urdu poetry since childhood, he has composed some original Urdu poems, which have been published in several leading Urdu magazines and newspapers.
Mr. Tung Hoang, Vietnam/Vietnamese
Mr. Tung Hoang has been an English instructor since graduating from university in 2015, majoring in Business English. With a particular interest in youth development and self-discovery, he is an avid participant in community activities and projects for students and young adults. His dream is to establish a center for self-development, where young individuals can come to discover their talents through linguistic, artistic and scientific activities. Open-minded and adventurous, he enjoys exploring and learning new knowledge and skills. Reading, singing and jogging are his favorite hobbies.
Ms. Jou-Chun “Laila” Lai, Taiwan/Chinese
Ms. Jou-Chun “Laila” Lai completed her BA and MA in Mechanical Engineering from National Taiwan University (NTU). She is an English, math and technology teacher in remote junior high school in Taiwan. She was afraid of and disliked English when she was young. But after having a gap year, learning Spanish in Guatemala, and traveling around the world, she changed her mind about language learning. She loves nature, aboriginal culture and lots of outdoor activities. Her motto is “Your temperament is made in the books you have read and the roads you have traveled.”
Mr. Happygod Macha, Tanzania/Swahili
Mr. Happygod Godson has been Teaching English Language in Tanzania since 2012, He holds a Bachelor Degree in Education Languages and Management from Mzumbe University, a Diploma in secondary education from Dakawa teacher’s college. He also completed numerous certificates including online training for EFL educators, teaching English to pre-teen and Teens (TEPT), E-teacher professional development workshops from University of Oregon, and CBI from American English-FHI. He is
currently working with TELTA as a Communication and information officer and a member of executive committee, and he has also been co-organizing and facilitating ELT workshops for Tanzanian and African teachers.
Ms. Meltem Ozgul, Turkey/Turkish
Ms. Meltem Özgül studied English Language Teaching at Yeditepe University. She has been teaching English for four years. She also has certificate of teaching Turkish as a foreign language. She enjoys learning new languages and cultures. She is interested in nature and a more sustainable lifestyle.
Ms. Gulchekhra Rakhimova, Uzbekistan/Uzbek
Ms. Gulchekhra Rakhimova earned her BA in Philology (English) and her MA in Linguistics (English) from Uzbekistan State World Languages University. She has been teaching English for three years. In 2016 she was awarded the Best Teacher of the Year among the school teachers in Uzbekistan and received two weeks of study in INTO Glasgow Caledonian University for professional development. She is interested in history, culture of different nations, music and teaching.
Ms. Maria Velichko, Russia/Russian
Ms. Maria Velichko graduated from Magnitogorsk State University, majoring in Linguistics, Translation and Interpretation. She then completed her post-graduate studies in the Theory of Language (Germanic languages) and started working as an Assistant Professor and later as a Senior Lecturer at the department of Translation and Interpretation. She considers teaching as one of the most important occupations whose value should not be underestimated. Being a teacher, she has deeply realized the power of knowledge, being a tutor of student groups, she has understood the importance of encouragement and empowerment, and working as an interpreter she can clearly see the significance of communication and interrelations between different nations and cultures. She is interested in literature, different cultures, art, fashion history, music, photography and always looking for the things that can inspire her.
 | Ms. Fatema Alaiwi, Bahrain/Arabic Ms. Fatima Alaiwi earned her B.A. in Banking & Finance from university of Bahrain (UOB) and a Professional certificate, CIMA, in Islamic Finance. She has worked as a Finance & Administration officer, and served on various Board of Directors for charity institutions. In addition, throughout all of this, Ms. Alaiwi has prepared special courses to teach Arabic for children and adults, and for children to improve Arabic language and self-development skills. She has also planned and organized many social and cultural activities. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and traditional crafts. | |
 | Mr. Hojjat Ashtarzadeh, Iran/Persian Mr. Hojjat Ashtarzadeh completed his B.A in English Translation Studies in 2009 and he has been teaching English since gaining admission to University in 2003. He is a professional teacher and he has an interest in learning about other languages, culture and psychology and he tries to apply his knowledge of the aforementioned in teaching so he can encourage and motivate his students to overcome obstacles they may face while learning a foreign language. His motto is ”better yourself wherever you are, whenever you can.” | |
 | Ms. Meltem Ates, Turkey/Turkish Ms. Meltem Ateş studied English Language Teaching and European Studies at Middle East Technical University. She is currently doing her M.A. in English Literature at Middle East Technical University. She is an English Instructor and Testing Development Unit member at Başkent University, Ankara. She is interested in interdisciplinary fields, literary theories and fiction. In her free time, she enjoys the arts and theater. | |
| Ms. Yu Kao, Taiwan/Chinese Ms. Yu “Sally” Kao is working on her MA in Teaching Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language from National Kaohsiung Normal University in Taiwan. She received a BA in Applied English from St. John’s University, Taiwan in 2014 and started working as an English teacher at a cram school and an elementary school (age 6-14). Ms. Kao has been teaching Chinese in Distance Education for almost 2 years (to students ages 12 to 51, in more than 5 countries). In her free time, she enjoys swimming and playing the guitar. | |
 | Ms. Faiza Khazkhali, Pakistan/Urdu Ms. Faiza Khaskheli completed her BS in Applied Linguistics from University of Sindh, Jamshoro and is doing her MS in Applied Linguistics from Mehran University, Jamshoro while working as an English Teacher at university level. She has received multiple awards from school to university level. She is very energetic by nature and loves to explore challenging opportunities. She has been involved in different academic and social activities. Research in the field of Linguistics is her main area of interest. She loves to learn different languages and practice singing in her free time. | |
 | Mr. Michael Lawrence, Nigeria/Yoruba Mr. Michael “MacLaw” Lawrence graduated with a B.A. in 2011 and M.A in 2015 from the University of Ibadan in Linguistics and African languages. He received multiple awards in both his undergraduate and graduate years. He has taught some courses in Linguistics in his department during his M.A program. His areas of interest are phonology and language technology. Mr. Lawrence has also delved into filmmaking to apply his knowledge in linguistics after going to a film school. He also enjoys playing various musical instruments. | |
 | Mr. Zukhriddin Nasirov, Uzbekistan/Uzbek Mr. Zukhirddin Nasirov received his BA in Philology (English) and his MA in Linguistics (English) from Uzbekistan State World Languages University. He has been teaching English for four years. His interests lie in teaching English as a foreign language and material design. During his stay in US, he would like to learn more about American culture and language. | |
 | Ms. Quy Nguyen, Vietnam/Vietnamese Ms. Quy Nguyen is currently a Vietnamese and English teacher in Hanoi -Vietnam. She is also an active member of YSEALI (Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative) program. She has been organizing community-engaged activities to protect nature and mobilize youth in community service. Her passion is to use languages to inspire people worldwide to live in harmony, respect each other and together build a better world from simple actions. Since 2015, she has been invited as a speaker/ambassador for many youth events in Vietnam and in other countries. Cycling, Shuttlecock Kicking (a fun Vietnamese sport) and making poems are her all-time favorite activities. | |
 | Mr. Samwel Petro, Tanzania/Swahili Mr. Samwel “Mnanga” Petro is a professional teacher who has majored in English Language and Geography. He has been the English language teacher at Gaspar Del Bufalo secondary school in Dar es salaam since 2016. Before becoming a professional teacher, he volunteered to teach English Language and Geography at Lugata primary and secondary school in 2010 and 2012. Mr. Petro holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Dar Es Salaam. In his spare time, he enjoys reading books and playing football (soccer). |
Ms. Valentina Afanaseva, Russia/Russian
Ms. Afanaseva received her Bachelor’s degree at Transbaikal State University in 2012 and started working as a teacher of English at secondary and high school (children, aged 10-17), simultaneously studying for the Master’s degree. She received her Master’s degree in Philology in 2014. She believes a teacher should be versatile and open-minded to be able to give students as much knowledge (not only of the subject, but of the world and life) as possible.
Mr. Volkan Alkin, Turkey/Turkish
Mr. Alkin received his bachelor degree in English Language Teaching at Gazi University. He has been an English instructor at Istanbul Technical University for 6 years now. He also taught both English and Turkish in the Netherlands as a Comenius Language assistant. He is interested in the use of technology and language games in ELT classes.
Mr. Charlie Ladrona, Philipines/Tagalog
Mr. Ladrona received his BA in Secondary Education from the Philippine Normal University – Mindanao in 2012 and graduated Cum Ladue. He took his MA in English Language Teaching at the Philippine Normal University – Mindanao in April 2017. He is a Secondary School Teacher at Agusan del Sur National High School (a public school) at San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, Philippines, where he handles English subjects and creative writing classes. His ultimate dream is to give continuously positive contributions in the field of education by staying open-minded, innovative, passionate and down-to-earth.
Ms. Ajoke Laseinde, Nigeria/Yoruba
Ms. Laseinde received her BA. Ed (English) from the Faculty of Education in Obafemi Awolowo University, ILE-IFE. Her prior experience includes teaching English as a second language at Oranmiyan Memorial Grammar School in Ile-Ife and Anglican Grammar School in Ilorin and also volunteering to teach adult learners The Art of Public Speaking at e-SAP Foundations in Ile-Ife. Her research interest lies in Adult Education and policy reformation. She is interested in making Educational programs more responsive to the needs of the learners and the society.
Mr. Abdul “Muta” Mutashobya, Tanzania/Swahili
Mr. Mutashobya received his BA in Education (English and Swahili) from University of Dar es Salaam. He has taught English as a second language at Ubungo Islamic High School in Tanzania for the past two years. He is also a teacher trainer at Tanzania English Language Teachers Association (TELTA)
Mr. Mounir Rafik, Morocco/Arabic
Mr. Rafik received his MA in Cultural Animation and Artistic Creativity from Mohammed V University in Rabat. He also received a BA in Language and Pedagogy; English Studies. He teaches English as a foreign language in Rabat and private schools. His research interest lies in Arts and Education.
Ms. Diep Trinh, Vietnam/Vietnamese
Ms. Trinh has been a teacher of English at British International School and at Newton Grammar School in Hanoi for five years. She is also a co-founder of an educational company in Hanoi. She received her BA in TESOL at Vietnam National University, Hanoi and her MA in TEFL at Southern New Hampshire University Vietnam. Her research interests are teaching English as a second language and educational management. Upon her return to Vietnam, she plans to build up a bilingual kindergarten
for children in Hanoi.
Ms. Rofiat Bello, Yoruba, Nigeria Rofiat Bello received her MA in English from Obafemi Awolowo University, ILE-IFE. She has taught English as a second language at Government Technical College in Onitsha, and Edify Private School in Lagos. Her research interest lies in intercultural communication and gender relations in language use. | ||
Ms. Helen Betonio, Tagalog, Philippines Helen R. Betonio is a faculty member of the Department of English at Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology back in her home country, Philippines. After her FLTA stint in MSU, she is very enthusiastic to share and apply the knowledge and experiences she will have gained from all her excellent academic exposure here in MSU. | ||
 | Ms. Asmaha Heddi, Swahili, Tanzania Asmaha Heddi is a graduate from the University of Dar es Salaam (Bachelor of Arts with Education in English & Swahili). Her prior experience includes teaching in Tanzanian Secondary Schools and Theatre activities with the artists from USA under the International Theatre and Literacy Project (ITLP). | |
 | Ms. Huyen Pham, Vietnamese, Vietnam Ms. Huyen Pham has been a lecturer of English at Thaibinh University of Medicine and Pharmacy for 12 years and she also taught English in Hanoi. She received her Bachelor in English and her Master in Applied Linguistics at Hanoi University. Her research interests are teaching English for children and students at medical universities in Vietnam. She is interested in exploring and applying different English teaching methods in her English classes. | |
 | Ms. Sofiia Starastina, Russian, Russia Ms. Sofiia Starostina received her bachelor degree in Linguistics at Saint Petersburg State University majoring in cross-cultural communication and teaching English as a foreign language. In Saint Petersburg she teaches English as a foreign language to adult learners and children. In the United States she is learning about American culture and upon her return to Russia plans to design a cultural linguistic course “Understanding America.” | |
 | Mr. Metin Torlak, Turkish, Turkey Mr. Metin Torlak is currently in his Master’s program in Teaching Turkish to Children Living Abroad at Gazi University. He has been teaching at Ankara University for three years. He has also taught at Turkish at Research and Application Center of Turkish and Foreign Languages (TOMER). His ongoing teaching interests are English as a Foreign Language and Distance Education in foreign languages. | |
 | Ms. Hao “Rain” Wang, Chinese, China Hao Wang received her M.A. Science in Education (English Education) at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. She is a lecturer teaching English in North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, China. She has been teaching English major students Advanced English Reading Course, English Phonetics, and Survey of English-speaking Countries. Her research interests include English as a Foreign Language and intercultural communication. |
2015/2016 Fulbright FLTAs at Michigan State University
Back row: Mr. George Wilbard, Swahili/Tanzania; Mr. Amr Rabie, Arabic/Egypt; Dean Christopher P. Long; Mr. Olayemi Awotayo, Yoruba/Nigeria; Associate Dean David Prestel; Assistant Dean Beth Judge; Front row:Ms. ThiThu “Hien” Hoang, Vietnamese/Vietnam; Ms. Selcen Erten, Turkish/Turkey; Ms. Andrea Lens, Portuguese/Brazil; Ms. Natalia “Natasha” Dolgoborodova, Russian/Russia
Olayemi Awotayo, Yoruba FLTA from Nigeria
Natalia “Natasha” Dolgoborodova, Russian FLTA from Russia
Selcen Erten, Turkish FLTA from Turkey
ThiThu “Hien” Hoang, Vietnamese FLTA from Vietnam
Andrea Lens, Portuguese FLTA from Brazil
Amr Rabie, Arabic FLTA from Egypt
George Wilbard, Swahili FLTA from Tanzania
2014-2015 Fulbright FLTAs at Michigan State University
Zubairu AbdulKadir, Hausa FLTA, Nigeria
Natalia Giarola, Portuguese FLTA, Brazil
Hewa Mohammed, Arabic FLTA, Iraq
Tolulope Odebunmi, Yoruba FLTA, Nigeria
Said Omary Said, Swahili FLTA, Tanzania
Shakul Tewari, Hindi FLTA, India
Mansurbek Tursunov, Uzbek FLTA, Uzbekistan
2013-2014 Fulbright FLTAs at Michigan State University
Ahmed Al Suleimani, Arabic FLTA, Oman
Abdullahi Isa, Hausa FLTA, Nigeria
Ayoub Msuya, Swahili FLTA, Tanzania
Darshini Nadarajan, Malay/Tamil FLTA, Malaysia
Olusesan Ogunyooye, Yoruba FLTA, Nigeria
Alexandre dos Santos Batista, Portuguese FLTA, Brazil
Feruza Tadjibaeva, Uzbek FLTA, Uzbekistan
2012-2013 Fulbright FLTAs at Michigan State University
Yunana Ahmed, Hausa FLTA, Nigeria
Wafa Alkrenawi, Arabic FLTA, Israel
Gulomjon Khudayberganov, Uzbek FLTA, Uzbekistan
Lugiko Lugiko, Swahili FLTA, Tanzania
Assane Niang, Wolof FLTA, Senegal
Willyam Thums, Portuguese FLTA, Brazil, (in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies)
Md. Wasiuzzaman, Bengali FLTA, Bangladesh
2011/2012 Fulbright FLTAs at Michigan State University
Abralova, Nasibahon; Uzbek 11/12
Bala, Abubakar; Hausa 11/12
Diallo, Rokhaya; Wolof 11/12
Franceschini, Aline; Portuguese 11/12
Lychaeva, Marina; Russian 11/12
Mahfouz, Ala’a; Arabic 11/12
Mirza, Sara Bano; Urdu 11/12
2010/2011 Fulbright FLTAs at Michigan State University
Abubakar, Idris; Hausa 10/11
Akkas, Ferdane Denki; Turkish 10/11
Anjum, Muhammad; Urdu 10/11
Kalugina, Yuliya; Russian 10/11
Lawal, “Abiola” Tirimisiyu; Yoruba 10/11
Lazreg, Houssem Ben; Arabic 10/11
Lusito, Agnes; Kiswahili 10/11
Ndiaye, Gana; Wolof 10/11
Perdishov, Bahtiyar; Uzbek 10/11
2009/2010 Fulbright FLTAs at Michigan State University
Adesokan, Folasade; Yoruba
Basol, Hasan Calgar; Turkish
Bello, Umar; Hausa
Dar, Masrook; Urdu
Gueye, Mor; Wolof
Gulam, Kobora; Swahili
Isakova, Gulnura; Kyrgyz
Marafon, Roberta; Portuguese
Pangestuti, Indah “Yuyun”; Indonesian
Seredinstseva, Anna; Russian
Sharma, Tulika; Hindi
Usmanova, Zarina; Uzbek
Yeng, Dionne; Malay
2008/2009 Fulbright FLTAs at Michigan State University
Abdurakhmonova, Shakhnoza; Uzbek
Davlyatova, Nigora; Tajik
Khan, Samina; Urdu
Suryantari, Antonina; Indonesian
Tikhonov, Andrey; Russian