Leeds Language College Ltd Staff

Staff Profiles

Leeds Language College Ltd. Management and Administration Staff

At Leeds Language College Ltd., you are taught by professional teachers in a friendly and positive manner. Our teachers are:

Professional and qualified to degree level in a broad range of subjects, at undergraduate and postgraduate level,
Holders of internationally recognized English language teaching and educational qualifications, such as CELTA, PGCE, DTLLS and TESOL certificates and diplomas,
Able to work to a professional standard and have experience of working in professional environments in the UK and internationally,
Mostly multi-lingual and have studied foreign languages themselves. They are experienced language learners and travellers and can understand the obstacles students face when studying English as a foreign language and living abroad. Our teachers are therefore fully equipped to offer learners practical advice on how best to study English and help students make the most of their stay at the college.

We regularly train our teachers in modern teaching methods and approaches and they spend time preparing your lessons according to the course programme. We also encourage our teachers to add supplementary resources to your course, to make your lessons more interesting and adapt them to your individual needs and abilities.

ADAM PRIESTLEY, B.A., CELTA, - PRINCIPAL

Adam has been working in business management for many years and has been involved in the English Language Teaching Industry for the last 17 years. Adam set up Leeds Language College Ltd in 2005 following teaching in fully established Colleges in Portugal and London where he actively learnt about the running of a college and International students' requirements. He has worked with both adult and young learners from a broad range of nationalities and with different learning needs. During his career in the UK and overseas, Adam has worked with international teams of teachers, educational managers and administrative staff. He enjoys reading, music and
spending time with his family.

VERONICA OMENI, MSc., Grad. Cert., Adv. Diploma TESOL, - VICE PRINCIPAL

Veronica has been working in the English Language Teaching Industry for over 27 years and has gained 20 years' managerial experience working with private, public and commercial institutions as well as universities and language schools. She has worked with both adult and young learners from a broad range of nationalities and with different learning needs. During her career (in the UK and overseas) Veronica has worked with and managed international teams of teachers, educational managers and administrative staff. She has designed and cooperated on several successful EU training language training projects in intercultural awareness, curriculum design, methodology, IT and communication skills. She has travelled broadly and enjoys learning about different cultures. She is currently working towards a PhD in Educational Technology.

HELEN DUFFY, B.A., CELTA., - DIRECTOR OF STUDIES
Helen is from Leeds and studied Ancient History and Latin at the University of Manchester. She has experience of working in retail, catering and banking. After obtaining her CELTA qualification Helen moved to Alicante, Spain, where she taught English as a second language to adults and young learners for a few years. Helen thoroughly enjoyed her time abroad, especially the food, the weather and the way of life. Away from the office she's interested in cooking, literature and linguistics.

VIVIENNE (WIESLAWA) DAVIDSON - ADMINISTRATION MANAGER

Vivienne is a qualified administrator and has many years’ experience working in the tourism and travel industry. She has travelled broadly and has worked in customer support, hospitality and administrative roles in the UK, Italy and Hawaii. She speaks several languages and enjoys working with international students. She enjoys travelling, skiing and social activities.

STEPHANIE MCINTOSH, B.A., CELTA, CERT ICT - SENIOR TEACHER

Stephanie has gained experience working in commercial, financial and educational contexts. She has worked on projects delivering social media, on-line and podcasting solutions to schools and organizations and has been responsible for monitoring the on-line safety of young learners. She has worked with young people and dealt with clients and learners from many different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Stephanie has worked on voluntary placements to assist refugees with their communication skills and participated in peace-making and human-rights projects in Israel and Palestine. Stephanie enjoys reading, hiking and handicrafts. She has studied French and is interested in world literature.

FARHANA AKUDI, B.A., M.A., CELTA - TEACHER

Farhana is from Leeds and has been teaching English at the college for 3 years. She has a BA in ‘English & Linguistics’ as well as an MA in ‘Linguistics & English Language Teaching’ from the University of Leeds. She was the course and social representative for the MA course and her passion for linguistics mainly resides in ‘pragmatics’ and ‘corpus linguistics’. She has volunteered teaching ESOL classes and has tutored phonetics and syntax to a partially-sighted student. She enjoys working with individuals from different backgrounds and has been teaching English language for a number of years to both children and adults. Farhana’s interests are reading, fashion, creative writing, doing yoga and learning languages.

JOEL WILSON B.A., CELTA - TEACHER

Joel is from York and has been living in Leeds for 6 years. He enjoys literature, music and theatre and plays the clarinet. He has studied English Literature at BA and MA level, and studied Jazz Music at Leeds College of Music. Vocabulary and phonology are his primary interests in English Language teaching, him writing his own tongue twisters to iron out weaknesses in pronunciation. Try: Sue sued the sushi chef’s sous chef Shizuo!

RICHARD JARRETT, B.A.(Hons), MPhil, CELTA - TEACHER

Richard has taught English in Poland and Portugal. He has also worked in the U.K. with schools and charities in London and Manchester and used to help students with Academic English at Durham University. He has degrees in Archaeology and is currently working on a journal article about pottery production in Roman Britain. He likes cricket, walking, cycling, Tai Chi, ballroom and Latin American dancing. He is a mine of useless information about action films and ‘retro’ computer games from the 1980s and 1990s.