INTESOL Staff Worldwide

Vincent Ferrer – Senior Tutor

Vincent has been working for INTESOL Worldwide since 2003. He holds an MA in Education and English Language Teaching and a Diploma in TESOL. Of American and Spanish descent, Vincent has had a long career in TEFL | TESOL. He has had a number of teaching and managerial positions over the years: from teaching young learners to Director of Studies on EFL Summer Camps to Course Director and Academic Consultant on a number of TEFL training courses. Vincent is the author of a number of articles on various aspects of TEFL and has been a guest speaker in international conferences and symposiums. Currently he is utterly committed to training English Language teachers and his main motivation is, in his own words, to ‘better our courses constantly so that our teachers not only satisfy the demands of the market but actually make a difference when they teach’.

Mihaela Dascalu – Senior Tutor

Mihaela has been working for INTESOL Worldwide since 2003. She has run many pre-service and in-service training courses both face-to-face and distance courses in Romania and Greece; and delivered workshops at many international conferences. She has worked for a number of British Council projects on developing teacher training and training of trainers programmes. Mihaela has developed and coordinated onsite and distance training courses and has trained teachers for over thirteen years. She is the co-author of the In-service Distance Training Course for Teachers of English, British Council. She holds a Licentiate Diploma in English Language and Literature and French Language and Literature and an MA in Teaching at the School for International Training, Vermont, USA. Being a non-native speaker of English, she has experience of being a learner of English that is invaluable for developing the native speakers’ awareness of teaching their own language.

Alex Semakin – Senior Tutor & Student Support

Alex has been working for INTESOL since 2011. He got his Bachelors degree in TEFL in 1995 and has been teaching English ever since. His students have been adults and children in Russia, where he has worked in high schools and a language centre, and also as a private tutor. In addition to that, he has substantial experience teaching students across the world via the internet. Alex’s specializations include exam skills training, teaching advanced level learners and teaching academic writing. He was an official examiner for the Russian Department of Education, administering the National Exam in English. He is currently writing his dissertation for the MA TESOL programme at the University of Manchester, which he is completing online.

Hogara Okamoto – Administration Officer

Hogara joined the education services industry after he had worked for advertising agencies for 19 years, mainly in the field of global business. He has a bachelors degree from Sophia University, Tokyo. He likes travelling to foreign countries and singing songs in karaoke.

Rocco Nigro – TESOL TUTOR

Rocco has been working for INTESOL Worldwide since 2005. He has been involved in the TEFL industry for many years as a teacher, teacher trainer, academic manager and examiner for TOEIC. He is currently based in Brisbane, Australia and has previously worked in Japan for two years and in China from 2001 to 2003. His initial studies include a Diploma in Engineering, and afterwards he completed a Master of Applied Linguistics through Macquarie University in Australia to add to his TEFL qualification.

Colin Young – Teacher Trainer

Hi, my name is Colin Young. I am a teacher, a trainer, a traveller, a runner, and a language enthusiast. I am originally from Canada, but have been living overseas for over 10+ years in China, Korea, Turkey, Malaysia and Australia! English teaching was what brought me around the world and I have experience teaching all ages and levels, ranging from 5 year old kindergarten classes to rocket scientists at Samsung. I arrived in La Paz, Bolivia in January 2016 and have been enjoying training the English teachers of the future in our TESOL Certificate program at instituto-exclusivo!

Antonis Ioannou – Course Director

Born in Limassol and educated in the UK, Antonis is a holder of two degrees and a post graduate degree in Greek , English and a PGD in TEFL respectively. He is one of the most experienced tutors in Teacher Training we have at Plato. He began as a teacher of English where he taught in Greece and in Governmental Schools in Cyprus. He was promoted to deputy and then head of the English Departments of more than 8 Governmental Lycea and Gymnasia and ended as the Headmaster of Polemidia Gymnasium, a governmental high school in Limassol Cyprus . Now with more than 27 years of experience in TEFL he is an asset to the TEFL Plato Team. Antonis has written hundreds of TEFL Materials and he is a member of ICM ,the IETFL Cyprus .

Dr Ahmad Pourghasem Shadehi – Director of Iran INTESOL

Dr. Pourghasem is the Director of INTESOL in Iran and CEO of  the International Language Centre of Amirkabir University of Technology. He has been teaching English since 2000 and has a PhD in The Philosophy of Language and the Mind. He has worked on how the mind can be extended through languages. He has worked on ethical situations an English teacher may encounter and has also studied the “Professional Codes of Ethics for English Teachers” which is totally new in TEFL courses. He has been working as a QC supervisor for G2 to create the university entrance exam in Iran since 2015. He is also the supervisor of a number of schools in Tehran. Dr. Pourghasem did his TESOL training course in 2016 and started working for INTESOL WORLDWIDE as the director of IRAN INTESOL. Their main centre is located in Tehran.

Elham Gerami – IELTS Director and Teacher Trainer

Elham Gerami is the IELTS Trainer at the International Language Center of Amirkabir University of Technology (ILCA). She has been teaching English since 2004 and has an MA in Applied Linguistics. She has an MA in TEFL from the University of Tehran and she has taught different age groups and levels in various private and public sectors. She completed her certificate in Fundamentals of Language Assessment at TESOL Arabia and Trainer Training in IELTS FOR TEACHERS at INTESOL WORLDWIDE. Elham has experience of English for Specific Purposes, writing IELTS course books and testing and developing materials at university level. She has trained and introduced efficient IELTS trainers to the TEFL industry and run many workshops for universities and English language schools. She has also been involved as a teacher trainer and education supervisor for several years and coordinated with ILCA Board of Education to design a curriculum and materials for distance learning courses. Elham is currently working at International Language Center of Amirkabir University of Technology as an IELTS trainer, teacher trainer, test developer, material designer and education manager.

Mohammad Tajbakhsh – Certified TESOLTrainer

Mohammad Tajbakhsh has been teaching English since 2004. He is currently working at the International Language Center of Amirkabir University of Technology as a teacher trainer. He has an MA in TEFL from Kharazmi University and he has taught different age groups and levels in various private and public sectors. He has experience of English for Specific Purposes, writing IELTS course books, testing and developing materials at university level. He has also been involved for several years and coordinated with ILCA Board of Education. Mohammad is currently working at International Language Center of Amirkabir University of Technology as a teacher trainer, test developer and IELTS trainer. He has also published work in a number of national and international papers.

KD Eryarar – Supervisor

KD is the driving force behind INTESOL Cambodia – TESOL House. Working in education prominently in teacher training and TESOL for more than a decade, KD has great experience and knowledge in delivering and managing TESOL programmes.

Pisey Long – Director

Pisey Long is the TESOL House Director, as well as Campus Director of Aii Language Center, Mao Tse Tong Campus. He is one of the Senior Management in Mengly J. Quach Education in charge of overseeing the general operation of the whole school, both academic and non-academic.

Pisey joined MJQE in 2006 as a part-time ESL teacher. Due to his dedication and outstanding teaching performance for almost 5 years, he was promoted from a part-time and full-time ESL teacher to Head Teacher in 2010. In addition to his position as a head teacher, he was also appointed to be the Principal for English at the American Intercon School in 2013. In 2016, he got another promotion as Vice Chancellor and Board of Observer. Finally, he was promoted to be the campus director and he is also a Steering Committee Member of the Annual CamTESOL Conference.

Pisey received his Bachelor’s degree in Education majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Build Bright University. He was also awarded the TESOL Teaching certificate, the internationally recognized certificate from INTESOL Worldwide based in the United Kingdom.

Steven Lee – TESOL & Management Trainer

Steven Lee is an experienced TESOL and management trainer from Singapore. He has a B.A. degree from The University of Tennessee in the U.S. and more than 10 years of experience working for multinational companies in Singapore like IBM, Thomson, and Singapore Press Holdings.

He has previously worked for about a year as an independent management trainer with The Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF), which is part of the World Bank Group. He completed the Training of Trainers for the “Supervisory Skills” program and facilitated the training for garment factory supervisors and managers in Cambodia. He also developed and facilitated “Management Perspective” workshop for companies in Cambodia like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap International Airports, and MJQ Education.

He has been involved in the TEFL industry for more than 15 years as a teacher and later as a teacher trainer. He tries to bring real-world examples into the training, so that it is engaging, fun, and immediately applicable. He enjoys being a trainer especially, in his own words, “when participants feel empowered, motivated, and equipped to use the hands-on skills as soon as they walk out of the training room.”

Thalyna Chhoeung – Executive Secretary

Thalyna Chhoeung received her Bachelor of Education in English from a reputable national university which is also one of the members of the ASEAN University Network (AUN). As part of her academic achievements, Miss Chhoeung took part and won first place in the JCI Cambodia Debating Championship both in 2013 and 2014. She also participated in the JCI World Public Speaking Championship in 2013, in South Korea and JCI World Debating Championship in 2014, in Japan. Following her winning the first place in the JCI Cambodia Debating Championship in 2013, she became an ESL teacher at the American Intercon Institute, one of the most well known language training centers in Cambodia, where she has gained most of her English language teaching experience as well as her management skills. She was later promoted to be the Executive Secretary to the Campus Director, and is now also in charge of overseeing the TESOL House administrative work.

Vincent Ferrer – Course Director

Vince holds a MEd in ELT and a TESOL Diploma and is currently based in Tarragona where he combines his role of Director of Studies for Anglo Centres language schools with teaching for the local URV University. He is also an experienced teacher trainer and TEFL course writer and acts as course director and tutor on Anglo Centres TEFL courses. His main interests are TEFL methodology and distance learning education. Vince has had an active role in INTESOL as an online tutor, course writer and trainers’ trainer since 1995.

Nina Skuse – Senior Trainer

Nina has been teaching EFL for over 20 years and has held senior teacher and Director of Studies positions for a number of reknown language centres. She started in Italy and has since taught in Japan, England and Spain. Over the years she has taught young learners and adults at all levels from elementary to proficiency, specializing in Cambridge exams for which she has been a speaking examiner since 1998. Nina is also an experienced teacher trainer and has been mentoring teachers for years.