Our Staff

NICOLETTE DEKENS

What is your role at ABC Languages?
Director, ABC Languages Westchester & Fairfield

What is your hometown?
Strijen, The Netherlands

Which languages do you speak?
Dutch, Arabic, English, German

What natural talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could dance like the dancers of Alvin Ailey…

Where would you go for your dream vacation?
Anywhere warm and sunny!

Anything else you want to share with the world?
I left the Netherlands in the 1990’s and moved to Cairo, Egypt. I lived and worked there until I moved to New York in 2003. 

ELIZABETH ZACKHEIM

What is your role at ABC Languages?
Co-Founder

What is your hometown? 
Tough question: LA, Big Sur, CA and Eugene, OR

Which languages do you speak? 
In the order I learned them English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Russian

What natural talent do you wish you had?
To be able to sing like Aretha

Where would you go for your dream vacation? 
A villa in the tropics or the Mediterranean

Anything else you want to share with the world?
I spent about 6 years living on and off in Europe (UK, France, Italy and Germany). My last time living abroad was Berlin from 1993-1995 where I worked for the government agency that privatized the former GDR (Die Treuhandanstalt). It was an unforgettable and fascinating.

RACHEL MEYER

What is your role at ABC Languages?
Co-Founder

What is your hometown?
Diamond Point, New York. Tiny town in the Adirondacks on Lake George, closer to Canada than to New York City. Very cold!

Which languages do you speak?
Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French, Turkish, and American Sign Language. Have learned in the past and sometimes revive Indonesian and Cantonese. Studied and have totally forgotten Japanese and Arabic.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Do I have to stay in one place? If not, let’s start with the Loire Valley in France, follow that with Istanbul, next back to Barcelona, I’d try Sevilla, and always wanted to spend time in the Basque Country (both sides of the border).

What is your favorite food or drink?
Oysters, wine. Stir and repeat.

Anything else you want to share with the world?
I live in Sausalito, CA and travel to San Francisco ABC by boat. I can see the San Francisco Bay, hear sea lions and watch pelicans fish from my home. Even though I live in a small town, I always find people with whom I can speak all the languages I know.

What is your role at ABC Languages?
IT Geek Extraordinaire

What is your hometown?
Lubbotomy....err Lubbock, TX

Which languages do you speak?
English, French, German, and Mandarin on a good day

If you could have any super power what would it be?
Look at someone and know what their native language is, understand it, and speak it fluently, but just while I'm in their presence.

What is your favorite food or drink?
Chicken Fried Steak <drool>

What is a secret talent that you have?
I don't have a secret talent, but my favorite useless talent is reciting 40 English prepositions in alphabetical order. Ask me!