Meet Our Trainers
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Linda Herbert
Academic Manager
"Linda loves the challenge of helping students understand and use English in a variety of contexts."
Linda started teaching English for Academic Purposes in 1992. In 1993, she started teaching Business English courses to EFL and ESL learners. She has also taught EFL learners at several universities in South Africa, USA and Canada. She loves the challenge of helping students understand and use English in a variety of contexts; and finds it very rewarding to see new teachers develop a passion for their job.
Linda loves travelling, and has visited Europe, the Middle East, Canada, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. When not teaching or travelling, Linda loves helping animal rescue organisations, and has a passion for Zumba dancing.
Luan Midgely
Senior TEFL Trainer
"I believe that the best way to effectively train aspiring teachers is to be myself, immersed in the environment."
She has worked in the publishing industry as a researcher and writer but her love for the English language has ultimately led her into the classroom. After gaining experience at the top language schools in Cape Town, she went on to become the Head Teacher of a well-known English institution. This is where she discovered and practised her passion for teacher training. She now runs the TEFL courses for The TEFL Academy in Cape Town and continues to teach second language learners – both in the classroom and online. She believes that the best way to effectively train aspiring teachers is to be herself immersed in the environment – giving them first-hand insight into the ESL classroom.
When she isn’t teaching, she reads, writes and spends time with her family and friends.
Judy Alden
Senior TEFL Trainer
"I have a keen interest in supporting both new and experienced teachers."
Judy Alden has taught English as a Foreign Language for over 16 years around the globe (Asia, Europe and North America) to young children, teenagers and adult learners from absolute beginner to advance EFL students in a wide range of contexts. As a teacher trainer, she has a keen interest in supporting both new and experienced teachers so they can strategically assist their non-native English speaking students with their language learning process. Judy is also involved with the writing of English language assessments from A1 to C2 CEFR levels with an internationally recognised language assessment provider.
Mark Hurney
Senior TEFL Trainer
"The best thing he did in teacher development was learning another language"
He’s taught all ages across the range of levels from true beginners to proficiency. After 17 years of teaching general, professional and academic English, he still yearns for those lower levels where students bloom. He claims the best thing he did in teacher development was learn another language. He loves coffee, running and David Attenborough.
Tiffany Probasco
Senior TEFL Trainer
"I realized that being an EFL/ESL instructor was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life"
She originally thought that teaching English would just be her gateway to international living, but only after a few months of teaching, she realized that being an EFL/ESL instructor was what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. After living in Spain for almost 2 years as a TEFL instructor, Tiffany decided to return to the US to continue her education by getting a Master’s degrees in Adult Education and later in Applied Linguistics. Currently, she is an academic English specialist and teaches English composition courses for international college students at a state university. She also works directly with educators at Master’s degree and practitioner levels as a teacher trainer. She hopes that by sharing her passion for teaching will inspire new teachers to continue to grow as educators.
Lisa Topolniski
TEFL Trainer
"I am passionate about the relationship between language and culture and the means by which people choose to express themselves. "
Lisa has both CELTA and DELTA, and attained her M.A. in TESOL and Applied Linguistics from the University of Leicester, with her dissertation titled: An Evaluation of the Endangerment Level of the Henqeminiem Dialect Spoken by First Nations Communities in Vancouver. Lisa’s expertise in teacher training coupled with her in-depth understanding of IELTS has allowed her to assist a wide rand of trainers, teacher and students. In her free time, she is enthusiastic about exploring new countries, going on road trips and being in nature with her 7-year old son and partner.
Ian Appleby
TEFL Trainer
"I’m excited by the way in which teaching can help everyone to realise their maximum potential, and by the power of language to build bridges and foster cross-cultural communication. "
Harvey O'Leary
TEFL Trainer
"I like to make the teacher training course fun and interactive"
His career has included work in Ireland, France and Greece and, apart from TEFL teaching, he has worked in school management and quality assurance. Harvey likes to make the teacher training course fun and interactive and to give trainees as many opportunities as possible to practice and develop the skills that they will use in their future teaching practice.
Lucía Marotta
TEFL Trainer
"What I love about EFL is how empowering it is. As EFL teachers, we give our students a life-lasting tool which will open many doors for them at a personal and professional level. And training teachers who can do that feels very rewarding"
Lucía is a committee member for the IATEFL LAMSIG and has managed teaching teams for
the last ten years: as a Department Coordinator at a secondary school in Montevideo, as an
ADoS in Dublin, and as a DoS in Dublin for the last three years. She has a lot of experience
observing teachers and helping them develop.
Lucía lives in Ireland and in her free time she loves reading, cooking and spending time with
her family. She also loves traveling and getting to know new places whenever she has the
chance.
Nicholas Edwards
TEFL Trainer
"I believe that the key to successful learning is to build a strong rapport with learners and tap into the life experience that they bring. "
Accreditation Partners
The TEFL Academy was the world’s first TEFL course provider to receive official recognition from government regulated awarding bodies in both the USA and UK. This means when you graduate you’ll hold a globally recognised Level 3 (120hr) Certificate or Level 5 (168hr) Diploma, meaning you can find work anywhere and apply for jobs immediately.