INTESOL Staff Worldwide

Lynda Hazelwood has been teaching languages since 1971. Since then she has taught in England and overseas, in both the public and private sectors, in primary, senior and adult education. She also has experience of English for Academic Purposes and materials writing at university level. Lynda has been employed by the British Council for whom she taught all levels including Cambridge exam classes and English for Specific Purposes. She has been an examiner for the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate and for the Pan-Hellenic Association of Language School Owners in Greece.Lynda founded INTESOL in 1993 in Bristol, England. A variety of courses and services were provided including one-to-one language tuition; adult language classes; French clubs for 5 – 11 year olds; English home stays for foreign learners and weekend introductory courses in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. The most successful of these became the weekend introductory courses in TESOL. 80% of the participants wanted to take a course, which would qualify them to teach ESOL, but most could not give up four weeks of their time to study. Lynda decided to develop course materials for home study which soon developed into the world renowned INTESOL Certificate in TESOL by distance learning. A short time later the course achieved accreditation and is now one of the most respected courses worldwide.

David Buckle has been working for INTESOL since 2001 and looks after the technical aspects of the business. He has a BSc in Computing and Technology, and a good knowledge of both computer hardware and software systems. David’s duties cover general IT matters including website updates, maintenance of computing equipment and general technical administration tasks. He also assists in the production, printing, and sending out of prospectuses, information packs and course materials.

Lidia Egorova, joined the international education services industry and has been working in the field of education for more than 8 years. She has a degree from the Far Eastern Federal University in Russia and has been living in China for one and a half years. She studied at Cambridge University. She is a very energetic, easy-going, communicative person. Lidia likes travelling to foreign countries, reading and learning different cultures.

On graduation from Orenburg State University Elena committed herself to the education sector. She has been involved in teacher training and development since 2006. Elena has graduated with a Masters Degree (Language Theory) from the Orenburg State University. She has attended professional retraining according to the programmes “Teacher of specialized educational institution” and “The teacher of the higher school”. In her free time Elena enjoys ski mountaineering, yoga and travelling.

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 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 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 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.

Mr. Ravi Ghimire is the Campus Director at Aii Language Center, Mao Tse Tong Campus. He joined the organization in February 2019 as a part-time teacher and quickly progressed to full-time teacher. He has a strong dedication towards quality education and endeavors to constantly improve himself, thus he was promoted to an ESL Head Teacher in 2020. Due to his continued excellence, he became a Deputy Campus Director in 2021, and a Campus Director in 2022.
His goal is to maintain integrity and augment professionalism for quality education.
Mr. Ghimire is a professional ESL Teacher with CELTA, Pass B from Cambridge University, London, and a bachelor in Business Studies from Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.

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 worked 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 and professional development workshops for companies in Cambodia such as Cambodia Airports and MJQ Education. He has been involved in the TEFL industry for more than 20 years as a teacher and later as a teacher trainer. He brings real-world examples into the training, so that it is fun, engaging and immediately applicable.

​Dr. Nguyen Thuy Hong VAN is an educator with more than 25 years of experience in education and training and is the Director of INTESOL Vietnam, the Master Franchise of INTESOL Worldwide in Vietnam. She is the TESOL trainer certified by INTESOL Worldwide (UK). Dr Van has delivered a series of training courses for ESL teachers of ESL and teachers teaching Math and Science in English. For her, sharing is happiness. Through training and teaching activities, she desires to bring the best knowledge and practice to learners who are her biggest inspiration. Her goal is to improve teaching and learning quality, in order to bring happiness to every lesson at schools in Vietnam

Kristine is CEO and founder of Universe Language and Training Centre and INTESOL in Armenia. She is a Marketing specialist and a Content Marketing Specialist accredited by Digital Content Marketing Academy Berlin. Kristine has more than 18 years of experience in the sphere of marketing. During this period, she has received many certificates, including Team Leadership and Management Skills, Entrepreneurship and Business Life Coach Certification and Personal Branding. She is the author of 15 books and several translations. Kristine has always been passionate about languages and speaks fluent English, German and Russian. Her life’s motto is Benjamin Franklin’s quote “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

Irina has been working for INTESOL since 2019. She is a professional teacher who has been involved in teaching English for over 15 years. She graduated from the American University of Armenia acquiring a TEFL Certificate in 2003. She earned her PhD in English Linguistics in 2010. Irina is an associate professor at Yerevan State University and a Director of Studies at Universe Language Centre. In 2016 Irina completed the online professional development course “How to Teach IELTS”. She is a certified oral examiner for PTE General and PTE Young Learners International Examinations. She received her “From Teacher to Trainer” Certificate of Completion with Distinction from Norwich Institute for Language Education NILE, (Norwich, UK) in 2018. She is the author of one collective monograph and ten scientific articles, published in Armenian and international journals. Training teachers and teaching English are two of her passions that she is proud to be doing.

Anna has been working as an English language instructor and tutor since 2013. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Intercultural Relations and a Certificate in INTESOL TESOL 190. She is currently an MA TEFL student at the American University of Armenia. She has several professional certificates and has passed a number of teaching training courses. For Anna, teaching is a partnership between the teacher and the students. Mutual perseverance and determination, a willingness to continually learn, and a desire to work lead to both parties’ great success. Her teaching motto is “Teacher is not the king of the classroom, but the grey cardinal.”

Sona has been working for INTESOL Worldwide since 2020. She has experience in teaching English since 2012. She has worked in a couple of public and private sectors. Sona has experience in teaching English for Academic Purposes. She has worked as a teacher trainer in China. She has successfully passed a CELTA course. Sona is an author of a number of articles on different aspects of linguistics. She has always been motivated by seeing the result of her devoted work. According to her, teaching is an ocean of discovery and the good result is the feedback of her devotion to this discovery.

Muhammad Hassaan has been teaching English since 2000 and has been involved in the TEFL industry for many years as a teacher and teacher trainer. He has taught a range of courses in Egypt and Spain, including general English, exam preparation ( IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. He has taught English to learners from different countries at IH Barcelona, where he trained and qualified as a TEFL/TESOL teacher. Muhammad has given courses on British pronunciation. He has given lectures on English linguistics and phonetics and phonology to college students. He is very interested in how language is acquired and used and how people learn languages, so he is currently applying for an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL. Muhammad is now the head and owner at PEH (Professional English House). He studied the English language and literature, BA at the faculty of Education, Mansoura University.

Maxim Achkasov has been a full-time ESL teacher since 2007. He loves helping people grow and improve their knowledge and skills in second language acquisition. He enjoys seeing people reach their targets in education, enhance their employability and develop their overall confidence in communication with foreigners.