Mrs. Irina is a native Russian speaker, born and raised in the oldest town in Russia, Velikiy Novgorod. She started her education and career in Law in Russia and then finished her Master’s degree in Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2009. Mrs. Feofanova is ACSI certified.

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While doing her Masters and working as a research assistant and adjunct instructor for the University of Arkansas Summer Law School, Mrs. Feofanova found her mission in organizing Russian-speaking community events and activities for children. Children from different towns of North-West Arkansas would gather for her play-based Russian classes and big Christmas and Easter events.

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Community service, strong dedication to the family, and raising her own trilingual children led Mrs. Feofanova to change her career path. In 2014 and 2018 she got two advanced professional training degrees in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language (to Children) from the Lomonosov Moscow State University and in Interactive and Multimedia Technologies for teaching Russian as a foreign language from the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, respectively.

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Mrs. Feofanova has taught Russian to students of all ages privately and in small groups for more than ten years. From 2016 to 2019 she taught Russian online via Zoom while living with her half-Russian/half-Mexican family in Cancun, Mexico.

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With great honor, Mrs. Feofanova has accepted the position of Russian teacher and curriculum builder at the Enlightium Academy in 2023.