Our Team
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Sayeh 思伊 ساية (co-founder/instructor)
Sayeh is a certified language teacher in Mandarin and English, as well as a healthcare interpreter based in Tkaronto on Turtle Island. She holds a master's degree in Linguistics. Originally from southwest Beijing, Sayeh studied in Jerusalem/Al-Quds before moving to Tkaronto. Outside of the classroom, Sayeh dedicates her time to supporting Bellis Crafts (@bellis_crafts), an art initiative introducing Palestinian tatreez overseas. Sayeh is currently learning Uyghur and Peskotomuhkati-Wolastoqey language.
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Polo Lonergan (co-founder/instructor)
Polo is a language educator and public speaker with a decade of experience as a queer community builder on Turtle Island. Originally from the UK, they hold a Master of Education in Adult Education and a BA in Linguistics and Philosophy. Today, they channel their love for languages into learning Arabic, French, Russian, and Irish, while spending as much time as possible with their spouse and abundance of animals.
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Dima Khalil ديما خليل (instructor)
Dima is an experienced and passionate language instructor from Gaza, Palestine. She has been teaching Arabic and English for over 10 years to students of various ages and language backgrounds. Dima is also highly knowledgeable in Arabic literature and poetry, having worked as a professional translator and content writer for many years. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from Islamic University of Gaza. In addition to being fully proficient in English, Dima is also an avid Korean learner.
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Shahzad Khan (co-founder/manager)
Shahzad is a wildlife photographer who broke free from the corporate grind—because staring at spreadsheets all day didn’t quite capture the magic of Turtle Island’s landscapes. When he’s not chasing the perfect shot in nature, you can find him wrestling with Excel sheets and pretending to enjoy balancing budgets for our non-profit organization. On top of that, he’s a connoisseur of third-wave coffee, music and movies. Shahzad and Sayeh have a fur baby named Emily, who is a 13-year-old black and white fluffy cat. He is currently learning Arabic.