Ximena Montilla

Venezuelan-Spanish teacher, passionate about teaching Spanish at home "as an affective language" and specialized in bilingual parenting. She has lived in Germany, Spain and the US, holding various positions related to education and the publishing world, such as: preschool teacher, Spanish and English teacher, Special Education teacher, Educational Consultant for private and public schools in Spain, and facilitator of workshops and lectures aimed at teachers, children and families. After emigrating to the United States and observing with concern that many Spanish-speaking families decide not to teach Spanish at home, she dedicated herself promote the importance of teaching Spanish at home in the Latin-American community and also decided to design educational resources to teach the language in an effective and easy way. In 2017, she began working on a series of educational materials that allow Spanish-speaking parents and professionals to teach Spanish in an easy, fun, and effective way, through the culture that accompanies the language, and promoting the importance of reading and emotional intelligence in the learning process. That same year, she created her LLC, a small publishing house Clases Listas LLC, and with the assistance of her team of Spanish speaking friends and family, all living in different parts of the world, she dedicated herself to design Spanish programs for adults and children, as well as games, ready to teach lessons, literacy resources, and mini books. Ximena writes, illustrates, and leads her global team from Atlanta, Georgia. Her first children's book Soy la Arepa, was the product of an investigation to publicize the history of a food that she classifies as a "symbol of identity and a home reference for Venezuelans.” She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband Erik, their three children, and their dog, Lucky. She loves reading, enjoys collecting children's picture books from around the world, and loves trekking, traveling, and cooking international food for her family and friends.