Natalya Silkina

Natalya Silkina is originally from the Donetsk region — a place where the winter snow turns black with coal dust, and the skies at times look like scenes from a post-apocalyptic movie.

Natalya holds degrees in English and German language education as well as practical psychology. After graduating from Horlivka State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages, she joined the Department of Foreign Languages at the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute branch. She fondly remembers her first students, still keeping in touch with some of them today.

After moving to Kyiv, Natalya joined a major project — working on localization of Microsoft products into Ukrainian. Later, after relocating to the U.S., she became a part of the global localization team as a Ukrainian localization tester. So if your iPhone is set to Ukrainian, you’re likely seeing some of the work she helped bring to life.

One of her most recent projects was launched by the City University of New York. Natalya helped analyze modern Ukrainian textbooks and develop placement tests for American educators to assess the Ukrainian language level of K-9 students who immigrated here with gaps in formal education.

For the past six years, Natalya has been volunteering at St. Michael’s Ukrainian School in San Francisco, teaching Ukrainian language, literature, and social studies to the students of 2-3 grades. She enjoys exploring traditions with her students — from holiday cookie baking to printmaking.