VISION, MISSION, VALUES AND CULTURE

Isabel hails from and resides in Singapore. Prior to being in the Education industry, Isabel was a MICE Officer as well as an Events Executive. These short stints have helped her acquire strong communicative skills, good mannerisms, and strong empathy towards others. She then took a leap of faith and switched to the education industry in search of a more meaningful and purposeful career. For 4 years and ongoing, she’s taught in MOE-based enrichment centres. Isabel has a deep repertoire of experience in the literacy department with children, imparting phonological and morphological skills to her students. Isabel has helped numerous students overcome their reading and writing difficulties. Aside from holding a TESOL diploma and certificate, Isabel owns a Hospitality diploma as well.

Diego has joined the teaching profession after completing his PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) in languages at Manchester Metropolitan University. After working for different government aided school in the United Kingdon he decided to pursue a doctorate degree in foreign affairs which he completed in 2006. He is currently working in Singapore, a place which he considers to be a meeting point between Asian and Western culture. In his next long holidays, he hopes to enrol at New York University in order to attend the Summer English School. Diego enjoys travelling in Asia, Europe and North America and he likes discovering diverse cultures as he believes that language is at the heart of every culture.

Margaret Blanch was born in Australia and she is a self-confessed chocoholic. She holds a Master of International Education, an undergraduate degree in Asian Studies and a Graduate Diploma of Education, all from the University of New England in Australia. She is a registered secondary school teacher and has more tax 15 years experience in the ESL industry - as a teacher, course writer, teacher trainer, assessor and in management. Currently, her particular areas of expertise are teaching IELTS preparation and English for academic and business purposes. Her favourite chocolatier in Singapore is "Awfully Chocolate".

Michael Bunyak is from Manitoba, Canada. He moved to Singapore in 2006 and has been teaching in Singapore for sixteen years. A qualified TESOL instructor and EFL / ESL teacher, he studied at the University of Manitoba and Brandon, as well as at London Teacher Training College. He has taught numerous students of different nationalities and ages, and strives to make language learning a fulfilling and fun experience for his students.

Fredrick is an American from California. He holds a Master’s in Curriculum and Teaching from NTU and a Master’s in Enterprise Resource Planning from Victoria University. He has been teaching in Singapore since 2009 and during his career in Singapore he completed his Diploma in TESOL, his SDALT and his ACTA. He believes the classroom should be a safe place for students to risk and grow; he loves creating a plan for mastering a topic and then watching the excitement in the students’ eyes as they grasp that knowledge. He believes that the best feedback from the student is a smile or a laugh. His favorite conversation topic is food and movies. Outside of work, he likes to explore Asia, watch Asian movies, and hunt for local foodie spots in Singapore.

Shamus hails from sunny Singapore and holds a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics from Nanyang Technological University, Cambridge CELTA, DACE and ACTA. Specializing in teaching adults, he is a passionate believer in lifelong learning. Shamus currently teaches General English, IELTS preparatory courses, Business English and Conversational Mandarin. He also has experience in teaching Academic English as foundational studies at a university and delivering business communication training. Before joining the adult education profession, Shamus was a copywriter for 15 years. Outside his professional realm, Shamus co-runs a non-profit language-learning social group called The Language Lovers, where he teaches Mandarin and Cantonese.

Jesse is from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has been in Singapore since September 2011. He graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Psychology and a minor in Chemistry. Jesse has been an avid volunteer in teaching English and has tutored a wide range of nationalities in English and other subjects. Jesse is known by his students to be very kind and patient, and knows how to make his students feel at ease.

Marc is from Sherbrooke, Canada, the last bastion of the English language in the province of Quebec. He has spent (too many) years studying anything from Computer Science to Theology, passing by International Cooperation. His quest to see the world brought him to 19 countries. His quest to understand different people and cultures led him to work and live in 7 of those countries (Canada, Nicaragua, Australia, New-Zealand, Singapore, China, and Iraq). He discovered he loved helping others learn English, so he successfully finished his TESOL and his TKT (Teacher's Knowledge Test) from Cambridge University. Now he is married to a (wonderful) Singaporean, and he spends his free time reading books, playing video games, and eating ice-cream...

Following a BA in English and Literary Studies at the University of Worcester (1998), Simon completed an MA in Romanticism (2002), and was awarded a PhD, also in Romantic Literature (2006), both at the University of Bristol. He has taught various courses in literature as well as effective writing, at diverse institutions in the UK, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, and has extensively published his literary research in books and international journals. He considers a balanced blend of passion, patience and proficiency to be the makings of a good teacher.

Seek first to understand" has always been Catherine's guiding philosophy. She has a decade of experience teaching English as a second language. Catherine spent some years in Australia before returning to Singapore. After graduating from the National University of Singapore with a double major (Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Sociology), she became a Broadcast Journalist/Producer with MediaCorp. Apart from writing, filming and directing, she also narrated for radio and television programs. In addition, her experience included print journalism, writing for major publishers such as the Singapore Press Holdings and MediaCorp Publishing. Catherine also holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Macquarie University, Australia. An avid learner of languages (she can speak Chinese, Japanese, Cantonese and Spanish), she understands the difficulties her students face, in learning English, and would find ways to help them overcome the challenges. Her classroom is a safe space where one can freely converse and not be afraid to make mistakes. Catherine strongly believes that a mistake can become a lesson, when one learns from it. In her free time, she enjoys reading because she can travel to various places, without leaving her couch.

Ian was born and grew up in Manchester, England, but lived and worked in London and Barcelona before moving to Singapore over 20 years ago. He worked in the airline industry for some years, before switching to teaching and gaining his TESOL Certificate and Diploma qualifications at Trinity College, London. He has been an IELTS professional for 21 years and loves helping students get the grades they need in the exam. In his free time, he enjoys swimming and you will often see him cycling round different parts of Singapore.

Kiran Mahbubani, a British Citizen, Hong Kong resident and Singapore PR, was born and brought up in Hong Kong before she moved to Singapore in 2002. Certified with CELTA - Certificate in teaching English language to adults by the University of Cambridge and ACTA - Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment, Kiran has been teaching English to both adults and children since 2012. Prior to that, Kiran was in hospitality field where she worked in a few hotels and for a German airline catering company. Kiran’s passion has always been in teaching. Kiran believes that teaching is one profession that creates all other professions. Kiran speaks a few languages, mainly English, French and Cantonese. Her love for travelling has taken her to many different parts of the world and her aim has been to visit one new place every year.

Paul was born in England, but has grown up in many different parts of the world. Before becoming a teacher, he was training to be an engineer in the Royal Air Force, but left that behind to peruse his passion in traveling and meeting new people. He has lived in Singapore for 10 years, all of which has been spent as a teacher. He has worked with a myriad of students, in both National and international schools as well as tuition centres. With the knowledge he has obtained from his years of experience, he is able to provide informative but entertaining classes which keep students coming back for more.

Stephen comes from Somerset, England and has undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications from UK universities. He became TEFL certified 4 years ago and since then has been teaching English to students of all ages and abilities in Hong Kong. South Korea and now Singapore. He believes passionately in helping his students to improve their understanding of the language and their ability to communicate with confidence.

Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Sarah grew up in her native Canada and has lived in Australia as well as in the U.K. before arriving in Singapore in 2014. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminology and a Bachelor of Laws Degree. She has also completed an Advanced Certification in Governance and Compliance from the International Compliance Training Association. Sarah enjoys travelling to different countries and experiencing diverse cultures and she believes that language is at the heart of every culture.

Ash is from San Diego, California, USA. He is certified in TEFL and TESL from San Diego State University (SDSU) where he also taught ESL. At SDSU he taught a variety of programs from conversational to business English. He holds a BA in Religion and has also done Masters level classes in psychology. He has travelled widely and has a lot of experience with the international community and believes in teaching beyond a language extending into culture and traditions so as to make learning a fun, exciting and relevant experience. ​