Masha Vassilieva, Ph.D.
ESL Program Director

Masha was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia. She majored in German studies at the University of St. Petersburg and later spent two happy years in Heidelberg, Germany, where she perfected her German, traveled extensively, and taught her first language classes. 

In 1997, Masha’s interest in languages brought her to America as a graduate student of linguistics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her doctoral dissertation is titled ‘Associative and Pronominal Plurality’; when asked about it, she sighs and says that she spent eight years trying to prove that plural pronouns are not plural. She has argued this point (and some others) at several conferences and published a number of research papers. She left SUNY with two graduate degrees under her belt: an MA in TESOL and a Ph.D. in theoretical linguistics.

Masha’s teaching experience spans many years and three countries. She has taught ESL, German, teaching methodology, and linguistics in Germany, Russia, and the United States. Prior to assuming the post of ESL director at VIU, she taught ESL at Columbia College, where she also set up a new TESOL program.

Masha lives in Washington, DC with her British husband named Simon and her American cat named Millie. She is a consummate book worm, loves good food (eating, NOT cooking), and believes that dancing is the best medicine.

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