About Tom Siefert
Tom is passionate about learning and teaching languages. He has a BA in Chemistry and Latin from Cornell University, and a PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures from Harvard University. For his doctoral work, Tom studied the role of translation in how adult learners acquire new languages. He has taught German at over a dozen colleges and language institutes in the U.S., Germany, and Austria. He was also the coordinator of Literacy Volunteers of Orange/Athol, where he taught Adult Basic Literacy and ESOL. His first language teaching experience was in 1992, and he joined ILI in 2025. Tom is known for his patient and relaxed demeanor in the language classroom, where he inevitably learns at least as much from his students as he teaches to them.