Natalia Silkina

Natalia 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. Despite that, her journey has been one of light, knowledge, and dedication to culture and language.

Natalia holds degrees in English and German language education as well as practical psychology. After graduating from Horlivka State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages, she began teaching at the Department of Foreign Languages at the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute branch — where she still fondly remembers her first students, some of whom remain friends to this day.

After relocating to Kyiv, Natalia joined a major localization project — helping adapt Microsoft products into Ukrainian. If your iPhone is set to Ukrainian, you’re likely seeing some of the work she helped bring to life. Later, after moving to the U.S., she spent three years working on Ukrainian localization with a global team.

One of her most recent projects was launched by the City University of New York. Together with the team, she helped analyze modern Ukrainian school textbooks and develop placement tests for American educators to assess the Ukrainian language level of students who immigrated with gaps in formal education.

For the past six years, Natalia has been volunteering at St. Michael’s Ukrainian School in San Francisco, teaching Ukrainian language, literature, and the cultural course “Discovering Ukraine.” She enjoys exploring traditions with her students — from holiday cookie baking to printmaking. With passion and care, she helps children connect to their heritage one joyful project at a time.