Modern Languages Media Center

Valeria Belmonti | Director
Valeria received an M.A. in Educational Technology from New Jersey City University concentrating her studies in Computer-Assisted Language Learning. Her thesis surveyed the use of web and mobile technology to enhance the teaching of intercultural competence within undergraduate language education, particularly through the use of telecollaboration. She has presented telecollaboration projects, models and frameworks at numerous national and international conferences, and she has directed the design and pilot of telecollaboration projects at the Center for Integrated Language Communities, one of the National Language Resource Centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education through Title IV grants. She holds various ACTFL certifications and has also completed coursework at the Intercultural Communication Institute of America (ICI). At CSI, she is also one of the Instructional Technologists for the Online Learning Team. 

Melvin Dejesus | College Lab Technician
I have worked at the Media Center for a long time and started here as a workstudy. I enjoy learning new languages and interacting with people from all over the world. I can speak some Spanish and Japanese, which helped me while I lived in Tokyo.

• Chiara | College Assistant

• Nowa | College Assistant

Katina | American Sign Language Tutor (2001-2019)
Biography: The Modern Languages Media Center and the College of Staten Island has been a second home for me. I have been a tutor since 2001. Since being a tutor, it allowed me to go from a student teacher, teacher assistant to finally an adjunct instructor for the American Sign Language program at CSI. I have been fluent in ASL for over 20 years and hope that my experience and knowledge of ASL/Deaf culture will help students have a better understanding of the language.

Najwa | American Sign Language Tutor:
Biography:  N/A

Xiaohong | Chinese Tutor:
Biography: N/A

Jazmin | French Tutor:
Biography: N/A

Oumar | French Tutor:
Biography: My name is Oumar. I am from Burkina Faso in West Africa. French is my country official language. I am a French adjunct faculty and an undergrad in Computer Sciences (2^nd degree). I like watching movies, sports and listening to music. My best experience at CSI started when I began to work at the language lab. As a former ESL students, the lab gave me the opportunity to share with my fellow students some of my knowledge in language learning and to provide them the best tips and practices to speak French.

Chiara | Italian Tutor:
Biography: N/A

Evelyn | Spanish Tutor:
Biography: Hello, my name is Evelyn. I was born and raised in Guatemala. Spanish is my native language, but I also speak English since I moved to the United States at the age of 14. I am currently a sophomore at CSI. My major is psychology and Spanish as a minor. Studying a language can be tough, but I will be more than happy to help you in the process of learning Spanish.

Guadalupe | Spanish Tutor:
Biography: N/A

Luz | Spanish Tutor:
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Luzmary | Spanish Tutor:
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Margarita | Spanish Tutor:
Biography: My name is Margarita, and I am from Ecuador. I transferred from the Universidad Estatal de Guayaquil and am currently studying in my fourth semester at the College of Staten Island. My major is Spanish because I aspire to teach and help others learn the Spanish language in the near future. I grew up reading the short stories, poetry, and novels from Spanish and Latin American authors and listening to pre-Colombian legends and myths that have shaped the identity of Latin American countries. People ought to learn how romantic, beautiful, and rich the Spanish language is. The great professors teaching BA in Spanish courses at the College of Staten Island are providing me with the necessary skills and techniques to teach Spanish and one day write a novel and a collection of short stories based on stories, legends, and experiences that I have been able to collect in my life. I enjoy the time I spend tutoring Spanish in the Modern Language Media Center because I love sharing my passion for my native language with students learning Spanish.

Maria | Spanish Tutor:
Biography: Hola! My name is Maria and I’m a Spanish tutor. I’m currently majoring in Psychology, and this is my second year at CSI. I enjoy tutoring because it allows me to help people understand the language and working in the center gives me that opportunity. I hope I get to help a lot of students to have a better understanding of the Spanish language and do better in their Spanish classes.

Pamela | Spanish Tutor:
Biography: Hello! my name is Pamela and I’m one of the Spanish tutors at CSI. I’m currently majoring in English with a concentration in Linguistics and I’m also doing a minor in Speech Language Pathology, in hopes of becoming an SLP in the future. I was born in the Dominican Republic and Spanish is my first language. I have always enjoyed helping others which is why I really like my job as a tutor, and being able to help and share my knowledge about my language makes me happy.

I enjoyed tutoring, as it was very helpful, and I was learning from it. I would go to class and not know anything, but then when I started tutoring,  we went over all my lessons and practiced everything, and I would understand it well. Every time I have a new lesson the next day I go to tutoring, because that is the only way I understand the work. I am not an Arabic speaker, so as a non-native learner, a new language is extremely difficult, but the tutor made it easier. Since it is one to one, it is a lot easier to ask questions, and go over things, as oppose to in class. N.I. - Student of Arabic

Learning a second language could be challenging. Attending Italian tutoring on a weekly basis has given me a great deal of confidence in completing my assignments, quizzes and class participation.  Thank you for all the hard work and dedication in tutoring Italian.  My appreciation for tutors is much greater than these words.  The whole entire Italian tutoring staff are AMAZING! The tutor I see in the morning especially has taught me in a way that made the information stick in my head.  She broke this up step-by-step.  I am forever thankful for her and the rest of the team.  With that being said, if you are struggling, tutoring is extremely helpful and I highly recommend it. Giovanna - Student of Italian

The CSI tutoring program is one of the best tutoring programs I have ever experienced.  The open scheduling concept is extremely innovative and offers the student maximum flexibility.  All of the tutoring instructors are enormously helpful and  very professional.  They are  all awesome!!  If you need to improve your grade or just get some extra help, you need to give the CSI tutoring center a try, you will not regret your experience. -Lee, Student of French

I attend Spanish tutoring, and the tutor has helped me improve with my class assignments. The tutor is kind, and patient with me. She explains the work in a way I can fully comprehend. I have improved so much . I received an A on my last Spanish test. She has also given me the motivation and confidence to never give up. I appreciate that she has a passion for what she does. -Cyrinthia, Student of Spanish

Being a student learner at the tutoring center has been a great experience. The tutors are friendly and very helpful in any subject language that you need assistance with. My skills have greatly sharpened from coming to the tutoring center and I’m very grateful of the help I received. I have been a student of Italian language and received my minor. I still continue to go to the center for new languages. I always enjoy coming for tutoring and other helpful tools to practice language.  -Nazar, Student of Italian

I am a senior at the College of Staten Island. I have been going to the Language tutoring Lab for French since the fall of 2015. The tutors I worked with have always been helpful and obligated by personal will to want to see me succeed. Whenever I feel apprehension with any area in French, I can go to the tutor and receive mentoring/tutoring in ways that to improve my general French. The tutor encourages me to strive limitlessly and the educational relationship we have had helped me to achieve all "A"s in my French courses thus far. -Ikim, Student of French

If it wasn't for The Modern Languages Media Center's tutoring, I would have been behind in my Spanish classes. Learning a new language at an older age is always a challenge. Therefore, I took advantage of this facility the minute I found out I had to fulfil a foreign language requirement for my degree. I was always ahead of my peers and always ready to participate. For that reason, I always stood out and exceled in all my exams and assignments. -Tugba, Student of Spanish

I went to the Modern Languages Media Center many times because I needed help with Spanish. The language tutoring center is a great place for people who need help with languages and the tutors there are amazing because they help you so that you can do well in all of your language classes. I received help in Spanish from Spanish tutors who want you to do well in classes and are willing to help if necessary. -Bella, Student of Spanish

The MLMC has helped me a lot during the semester. When I came here the first day, I did not know anything about the new language. Then the tutor came and helped me out and because of her help, I was able to pass with a good grade in my class. I was also able to become friends with the tutor while studying and practicing. Overall, I had a great semester and hope to have a better one next time.-Mohammad, Student of Chinese

The MLMC has helped me out a lot this semester, more than what a typical tutoring center has done for me. The tutor has helped me out a lot from basic sentences, stroke order and pronunciation which in return helped me to achieve the highest grade overall that I could within the class.-Demetry, Student of Chinese