Meet the Team

The Distance DELTA has an expert training team drawn from the vast pool of knowledge, expertise and experience in the International House and British Council network. Amongst our expert team we have published ELT authors and Cambridge Module 2 Assessors and Moderators as well as Cambridge Examiners for Modules 1 and 3. Together they will provide you with the individual guidance and tutoring you need during your course. In addition to this, we have a support team of Course Co-ordinators, the Course Administrator and a dedicated IT helpdesk should you need extra assistance.

  • Programme Manager

    Paulette Milego

    Hi. I’ve been working as a teacher and trainer at IH London since 1992. I worked on the original Diploma Distance Training Programme and have worked on the IH Educational Management Programme as well as the Distance Delta. I also work for Cambridge as a Delta Module 1 Exam writer and Team leader for Exam markers and Module 2 Assessor and Moderator. Before coming to London I worked in Turkey, Spain and Brazil and during my time here I’ve done a couple of stints abroad in Kenya and Moscow.

  • Course Administrators

    Francesca Battinieri

    Hi everybody, I’m Francesca and I come from Italy. I have an MA in English and French languages and literature and I have been working as an administrator in the Distance Delta offices for a few years now. I enjoy my work and it’s always nice to get to know the people behind the emails.

    I’m into theatre and cinema, reading and travelling. I spend my extra time working at the Globe Theatre in London (in Summer) and checking out the latest plays in the West End. Also being an Italian, there is nothing I don’t know about ‘good’ food.

    I love living in London, it’s a great city, but the one thing I don’t like about London is the weather!

     

    Estelle Gomez

    Bonjour, I’m Estelle and I come from Provence in France. I swapped the lavender fields for the cosy pubs in 2014 when I moved to London. But since the pandemic, I have relocated to Cardiff where I enjoy Welsh cakes and discovering the beautiful outdoors that the country offers.

    I have been part of the Teacher Training admin team at IH London since 2018, I love working in an international setting and supporting teachers in getting their qualifications. I started by working on CELTA and I’ve now specialised on the DELTA qualification. Drop me an email if you need information on our courses, and I’ll be happy to help!

     

  • Course Co-ordinators

    Annie Thomson

    I’m Annie and I having been working at International House, London since 2006. Before then I was living in Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico and Portugal, teaching a range of courses, including EAP and YL. I am a CELTA and Delta trainer but, like probably all trainers, I love to be back in the classroom teaching whenever I can! I am also a Delta Module 3 examiner.

     

    Cathy Ellis

    I’ve been a teacher trainer for about the last 20 years and have taught and trained in Spain Poland, Brazil, the Republic of Georgia, the UK and most recently Canada, where I worked for three years in Vancouver. I came back about six years ago and since then I’ve been living in London, teaching and training, working on CELTA and Delta courses, carrying out assessments for both courses. I also work for Cambridge ESOL as a Team leader for Delta Module 1 exam markers, and a moderator and assessor for Delta Module 2.

     

    Duncan Mackenzie

    Enjoying my third stint at IH London, I have been teaching and training permanently here since 2006. I was also a trainer in Prague and worked in Spain and Argentina before that, managing the switch between variations of Spanish with relative success. As well as CELTA and Delta, I have been a tutor on TKT, Business 1-1 and Training the Trainer courses. I also work for Cambridge ESOL as Module 1 exam marker.

     

    Jan Madakbas

    I have been at IH London since 2001 but before that worked in Moscow and Istanbul. I am a CELTA and Delta trainer but also work on the Diploma in Educational Management, do examining work and have been involved in designing online teacher training courses particularly for China. I am a Cambridge ESOL marker for Delta Module 3 and a Delta Module 2 assessor.

     

    Nick Witherick

    I have worked at International House London since 2009 but have been involved in Delta training since 2001. I do a number of ELT-related things including writing coursebook materials and language consultancy work in the field of recruitment. I’ve been a Trinity College London examiner since 2000 and mark Delta Module 1 exams for Cambridge.

  • Course Tutors

    Adam Bejsovec

    I’ve been working as a teacher, teacher trainer and academic manager since 1998 in different countries and different settings. I recently relocated to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I currently work as a teacher training coordinator for IH, tutoring CELTA, Delta and YL courses. I also spend quite a lot of time working online, tutoring courses for the Distance Delta and IH. My work has always been my hobby so the boundaries between my work and free time are fairly blurred. Apart from the ELT, I love cooking, bowling, Turkish & Scandinavian literature and an occasional movie, run and swim.

     

    Anna Csíky

    I am a freelance English teacher and teacher trainer based in Budapest, Hungary, which allows for a diversity of work contexts. From high school to business teaching, and Delta training to video blogging, I love teaming up with people and organisations that share my mission of making language learning and teaching a more efficient and more enjoyable experience for everyone involved.

     

    Brigid Nugent

    I’m originally from Ireland, I still have my Irish brogue and am based now in Italy, so pretty much use the same vowel sounds. I do Deltas and CELTAs, on and offline all over the globe and am a JCA. I still love what I do and know that I am incredibly lucky to be able to say that.

     

    Claire Potter

    I work at Clic, International House, Sevilla as Director of Teacher Training, working on CELTA, Delta and IH YL courses and teaching teens. I originally started teaching in Japan for two years, before moving to Spain in the mid-nineties, where I have worked ever since in Cordoba, Sevilla and Malaga. I am lucky to be able to travel to different countries when doing CELTA and Delta assessments and IH inspections, which I love. In my free time you will often catch me at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, cheering on my football team Sevilla FC.

     

    David Palfreyman

    Hello. I’ve taught EFL in Italy and Spain, and ESL in the UK, and I’ve been a Delta Tutor and Assessor for many years in Turkey and the Middle East. Most of my work now is at university level. I enjoy working on the Distance Delta as it involves vicarious contact with a lot of different teaching situations around the world. I’m especially interested in lexis, culture and how learners use their own resources (including their L1) in learning.

     

    Fran Barnard

    I’ve been working at IH for 10 years as a teacher and teacher trainer. Before that I worked in various countries including Sweden, Turkey and Hungary. My most recent stint abroad was 2 years in New Zealand from 1996-8 which was a fantastic experience. Originally I was state school trained and spent three years teaching in secondary education (English and Religious studies). I still have a strong interest in teaching and training teachers of younger learners at both primary and secondary levels.

     

    Jonathan Stoddart

    Hello there. I’m Jonathan, and I’m a Senior Teaching Fellow at the Institute of Education, University College London. I began teaching in 1994, and have been training since 1999. I am an examiner for Module 3 of the Diploma. Prior to working here in London, I worked in the beautiful city of Lisbon for ten years, initially in a secondary school, and then for International House (where I took my Diploma in 1998). Since then, I have taught English for Academic Purposes and Academic Literacy in a number of universities in the UK. I completed my Master’s in ELT in 2006 and have just finished my doctorate at the Faculty of Education, Cambridge. In my free time I row and coach at Furnivall Sculling Club on the Thames.

     

    Lucy Gubbin

    I’ve worked as teacher trainer at LAL Torbay in Paignton, Devon, for 20 years now. We run CELTA and Delta courses on a regular basis and now have a team of 8 trainers. I also work for Cambridge Assessment and my work for them includes writing for and marking Delta Module 1 papers. I’ve been an assessor for CELTA for 15 years.

     

    Marie Morgan

    I’m Marie, based in Vancouver but born in Liverpool. Been in ESL since 1988 though was a meditation teacher first then a group facilitator/trainer. Worked in the UK teaching ESL/training teachers then freelance in Australia, US, Canada and Italy. Worked on lots of CELTA courses, am a CELTA/Delta/TKT Assessor, have trained trainers and work with Cambridge ESOL on many projects. With a colleague, introduced DELTA to Canada in 2004. Completed my MA in 2007, and still vividly remember what it’s like to write drafts! I’m an examiner for a number of international ESL exams, and for the last few years have been working with a large international school writing and editing materials for their course books – a real passion of mine.

     

    Mike Carter

    My name’s Mike Carter. I’m a teacher trainer at IH Seville in Southern Spain. I’ve been training teachers on all Delta Modules for about 15 years now. I’m also an Assessor for both CELTA and Delta. In Seville we run face-to-face, blended, and online training courses. I’ve worked mainly in Spain, but also in the UK, Greece and Thailand. In my free time I love music, cooking, reading, cinema, and travelling (like most of you). I’m looking forward to working with you all.

     

    Neil Anderson

    Hi – I’m Neil. I’m Head of Training and Test Production at Euroexam International. I also work as a freelance CELTA / DELTA trainer, Module 3 examiner and CELTA assessor. I’m the co-author of Ideas In Action: Activities for Task-based Learning. I’m an avid reader, lover of music / the guitar, movies, games and cats.

     

    Rick Ansell

    I’m Rick Ansell and I’m a freelance Teacher and Teacher Trainer, though for the last five or six years I have worked at IH London, having worked for the organization throughout the ’90s. I began teaching in 1985 and spent time in Spain, Italy, Turkey and Brazil before returning to work in London where I trained to become a Teacher Trainer in 1993. I worked on the original Distance Diploma, marking paper scripts sent in by Candidates before it all went digital which makes me feel I must be pretty old. Outside teaching and training I enjoy long distance fell running, endurance cycling and mountaineering.

     

    Sally Beetham Tilley

    Hi. I’m originally from London, but now live in Canada in the foothills of the Rockies. I’ve been teaching ESL/EFL/ESOL for over 30 years, as well as training teachers on CELTA and DELTA courses, in all sorts of contexts. Here in Canada I’m a freelance teacher, CELTA and DELTA trainer/ assessor, as well as a DD tutor, doing some language examining and training on some TESL Canada training courses.

     

    Sam Porter

    I have been teaching English for almost 30 years (in mainland Europe and the UK) and I’ve been a teacher trainer for over 15 years (for both CELTA and DELTA). I have also worked for Cambridge Assessment as a Delta Module One examiner.

     

    Sharon Celtek

    I’ve been teaching for around 30 years now, most of which has been in Turkey (where I am now based). During this time, I’ve worked for IH, the British Council, the Turkish Ministry of Education and Sabanci University (Istanbul) doing teaching and teacher training (including CELTA, DELTA). Having done a master’s degree through distance education (Macquarie University, Australia) and having just co-designed and tutored a new teacher training online course at Sabanci University, I can empathize with all of you studying online!

     

    Sheena Ando

    I’ve been teaching for over 30 years and have been a DELTA tutor for about 20 years! I was a Delta OC Tutor in London, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Osaka and was Head of Teacher Training at the British Council, Tokyo for many years. I have run face to face CELTA and DELTA courses but love working on the Distance DELTA. I have also worked in Egypt (IH), South Korea, Belgium and the UK and am now in Frankfurt, Germany.

     

    Tillat Khalid

    I’ve have been teaching EFL for the past 31 years, mainly in the Middle East but have also done stints in the UK, Pakistan and now in Vancouver, Canada. In Kuwait I ran the Delta, CELTA and Young Learner Extension training programmes for the British Council. I did my CELTA, a DTEFLA and then an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester. I am also a CELTA, YL and DELTA assessor and did a fair bit of travelling around many beautiful cities in the Middle East in that capacity. I moved to Vancouver in 2001 and am especially proud to have been involved in setting up the first DELTA centre in Canada. I am currently involved in coordinating and teaching on Delta, CELTA and YL Extension programmes here and do a great deal of work with the Distance Delta and with IELTS.

  • IT Support

    Greg Tatka

    My name is Greg and I’m your IT support guy. I’ve been involved with The Distance Delta website for over four years now. I lived in London for half a decade or so before moving to Krakow in 2006 where I run a small web company. I love travel and unusual food. In my spare time I like walking in Scottish Highlands and cycling. When in Scotland I am on a mission to help the world fighting the annoying midges so that more people can come visit this wonderful part of our planet. Join me if you hate the midges!