Jennifer Degenhardt, B.A., M.Ed., taught middle and high school Spanish for 24 years. She began writing when students in her classes were not “buying in” to the traditional textbook lessons. With the first story she wrote, Jennifer found that her students were more engaged, both with the language and in class in general. While her books highlight cultural, social, economic and political themes necessary for continued conversation, both in- and out of the classroom, all of them deal with identity to some degree and how important it is to know who you are. Jennifer is passionate about helping students learn more about themselves through storytelling and writing and is currently sharing this passion with her students at the college level at UCONN Stamford.

Theresa Marrama has been teaching French to both middle and high school students since 2007. She lives in Northern New York. Since the age of 15, she has had a passion for language and culture. This passion has only continued to grow since she has stepped into the classroom!

Theresa is also a published CI author! She specializes in writing comprehensible readers in both French and Spanish. She has books available in German as well. She believes in the power of reading, and wants her students, as well as students everywhere, to be totally engaged and empowered to learn through reading. You can check out her novels if you click on the bookstore link above. These novels will connect with your students as they cover a range of topics, cultures, life lessons, life choices and so much more!

Enid Lopez Reed is a Puerto Rican author who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia with her husband Jeff, their children Natalia, Enrique, and Ricardo, and their two Newfoundland dogs, Finley and Cole. She is a Spanish Teacher in Virginia, a Voice Artist for Garbanzo, LLC, a co-author of a monthly cultural publication titled Panorama Cultural, and the creator of reading challenge on Instagram titled #leeenELE.

Alice Ayel is a French language parent and booster.

She has helped language learners from over the world for more than 15 years to acquire French and also Spanish.

She started to make comprehensible videos online for free to help learners to acquire French the natural way. And later on, she also launched with the help of Benjamin Bois, an online French learners community to become fluent in French by reading and listening to compelling stories.

https://www.youtube.com/c/aliceayel

Rafael Rijo is a sound engineer and content creator, along with being the director of the sound studio, Submarino Amarillo. He and his team have over 20 years of experience with this fascinating world of communication.

He has had the opportunity to share this creativity with persons involved with cinema, radio and televisión, both locally and around the world. Though he enjoys working with voiceover and music, his specialties include sound mixing for movies, documentary films, audiobooks with a deeper vision where the readers can experience the stories in a more intense and real way.

Rafael and his team, which includes, María Ribeiro, Eugenio Rijo and Domingo Figueroa, are the talent behind mucho of the awesome audio on the Digilangua site.

Adam Giedd is a Spanish teacher in Central California. He writes for students who don't usually enjoy reading. Other than teaching Spanish, he coaches his school's Curling Club. Outside of school, you can find him hiking at Yosemite, trying a new coffee shop, or spending time with his family.

Françoise “Swaz” Piron was born and raised in Geneva, Switzerland, the daughter of a French mother and a Belgian father. She taught French at South Jefferson CSD for 35 years (and German for one year) and retired in June 2021. Her undergraduate education took place in Geneva and she received a Masters in Education from SUNY Potsdam. She is the current President-Elect of NYSAFLT and is a member of several organizations, including ACTFL and AATF. She was a regular item writer and consultant for the New York State Education Department for the two French state exams for over 20 years. Swaz has presented numerous workshops at the local, state and national levels. She is the recipient of several NYSAFLT awards: the “ISE, Language Matters” Award (2009), the “Dorothy Ludwig Memorial Award for outstanding service to the foreign language teaching profession” (2010), the “Ruth E. Wasley Distinguished Teacher Award K-12” (2015) and the President’s Award (2019). She was named “Chevalier dans L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques” by the French Ministry of Education for her efforts in promoting French language and culture.

Françoise is the co-author of the book “World Class, the Re-education of America”. She has led several student groups to Canada, Europe and to Martinique.

As a retiree, Swaz continues to work within the field of languages and cultures, in particular as a consultant for assessments, curriculum development and other personalized services (https://frenchalacarte.net/) as well as with the editing and translating of classroom readers for several authors.

Anny Ewing and Altamira Language Learning are a resource for authors of language learner literature, guiding you in the creation of comprehension-focused texts for language learners. Anny edits, copy edits, and proofreads texts in English, French, Italian, and Spanish.

Angie Ayala has been a book cover creator for the Digi team since the writing began! Angie works magic with a graphic design program to make covers come alive! She says:

I am proud of every cover that I create, pour my heart and soul into every project, and complete them on time. Trust me with your covers, I won't disappoint!

Tanya Ferretto was born and educated in Venice, Italy, where she enjoyed reading, writing and the arts. She has a Ph.D. in Japanese Art history. For the past 15 years she has been an Italian teacher at Winchester High School, MA. Teaching is her passion.

Ana Andrés is a proofreader of style and orthotypography of Spanish texts. With a PhD in Hispanic Philology, she specializes in correcting readings for students of Spanish as a second language, literary texts, educational materials and academic texts in the humanities. For Ana, correcting a text means respecting the style and intention of the author, taking care of the details so that the text is expressed naturally, clearly and precisely, the way the author wants to convey it to the reader.

Julie Young has been teaching German in Minnesota since 2005. She speaks near native German and has a deep understanding of German culture. Julie travels to German-speaking countries frequently with her students and is the International Exchange Coordinator at her school, allowing her to work with young people from many different backgrounds and cultures.

Julie is a frequent presenter at the Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures (MCTLC). She will be presenting at the Central States Conference in Minneapolis in March of 2024. Julie is the author of the Comprehension-based readers Er träumt von Amerika, Namika, Mit dem Wind in den Westen, and Ötzi, der Mann aus dem Eis; numerous teachers guides; and translations and adaptations of many additional readers to German.

Andrea Giganti Dima is a Spanish Language educator and curriculum developer who was born in Argentina. She used to be a lawyer before moving to the US with her husband and three children, in 2011. She pursued a career in Spanish Language and Culture Acquisition, when she realised this was a wonderful way to reach other people and help them see the World from different points of view, finding common ground on the differences. She was blessed in the opportunity of training with several wonderful acquisition driven educators. She enjoys writing and telling stories, and sharing her love for learning new things while sharing Spanish contents. Andrea started editing Spanish readers several years ago, creating resources, lessons and curriculum, collaborating with wonderful authors. She is a Voice Artist for Garbanzo and a curriculum Developer for the Comprehensible Classroom. She is a Language instructor and Teacher Leader at Common Ground International, working with Medical Professionals who want to communicate in Spanish with their communities. She believes in the synergy we can achieve when we work together. She loves working with younger and older students, and to share in their triumph when they move from the mindset “I am not good for Spanish” to one of continuous learning with joy.

Born, raised and educated in Northern New York, Valerie (a graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York) has remained in the area throughout her life. After enjoying a rewarding career of thirty-three years teaching high school English, she and her husband are embracing retirement in their small, rural community.

She has always loved reading, and during the last few years, after beginning to edit the writings of some author friends, she has found a new way to spend more time immersed in books. Not only does she edit fiction and non-fiction for former colleagues; she is now editing the English versions of comprehensible readers, written by a former student. Valerie says working with the successful, young lady she once taught gives her special satisfaction.

And because many changes have occurred since she was in the classroom, she adds that editing has forced her to familiarize herself with the updated rules in grammar and usage… she hopes that the rigors of thorough, systematic editing help to keep her brain sharp for at least a few more years.

Brigitte Kahn has been teaching all levels of German for 15 years in the Massapequa School District on Long Island. She has a B.A. in German and French, and an M.Ed. from Stony Brook University. Brigitte is originally from Salzburg, Austria, and regularly takes her high school students on trips to her native country. Brigitte loves collaborating with dedicated authors who bring exciting and thought-provoking stories to life and in the hands of German learners everywhere. She also greatly enjoys traveling, skiing, and reading, reading, reading!