QUALIFICATIONS 1987 BA (Hons.) Historical StudiesPortsmouth University 1993 CTEFLA (Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults) International House, London

1998
DipTEFL (Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults) International House, Krakow, Poland

EXPERIENCE
Neil has been in Sri Lanka since April 2007 but this is actually his second time around as he lived here from 1999 to 2002. He enjoyed it so much then that he and his wife decided to bring their family back here and their second child was born here last October. He worked with the British Council as STEPS project coordinator but has now joined the Professional Training Centre in Colombo as the Manager.

After getting his degree in History he worked in the private sector for the electronics company Racal Decca before becoming an English teacher in 1993. He began teaching business skills/English in Central Europe in 1995, continued in Sri Lanka and later in Egypt.

He has been in language training for 15 years and received his Diploma in English Language Teaching from Cambridge University in 1998. He has lived and worked in Greece, Hungary, Poland, Sri Lanka, Egypt and the UK.

He played rugby union for school, club, district and university but is now content just to watch. He also plays guitar and sings in a band called “French Connection” here in Sri Lanka

Shannon has been a teacher and trainer since 1997. She has delivered Business English training courses to a variety of companies such as Toyota Motors in Japan, Allianz Insurance and Commmerzbank in Germany and Nestle and Fako in Turkey. She has also designed and led a number of seminars on topics including presentation skills, cross cultural issues, banking and finance, meetings, negotiations and business writing.

Before becoming a teacher she worked for a small international company as a project manager setting up joint ventures in Russia.

Shannon has been in Sri Lanka since October 2007. She previously worked as a teacher and trainer in the Czech Republic, Turkey, Germany, and Japan.

She has a Diploma in English language teaching and a BA in Russian language. She is also a qualified oral examiner for the IELTS and Cambridge exams.

In her free time Shannon enjoys learning languages, travelling, reading, and mountain trekking.

Simon has been living in Sri Lanka since July 2006. He is the newest member of the Professional Training Centre and has delivered Professional Skills workshops for Omega Line. Currently, he works with Next Sourcing, HSBC and Quantum Clothing. Simon has over nine years experience as an English teacher and trainer.

Prior to coming to Sri Lanka, he worked for the British Council in Azerbaijan, specialising in delivering Business English and 'English for the oil industry' courses for an international oil company.

Before Azerbaijan, he worked for seven years in Russia as a teacher and trainer. He also spent one year working in middle management at a language school. Previous to his teaching career he worked in the charity sector.

In his free time, Simon enjoys listening to and collecting music, reading (especially books on history), playing football, watching movies and travelling.

Tom has been a teacher and trainer for the last 11 years. He has designed and delivered Business English training courses on a variety of topics including presentation skills, cross cultural issues, banking and finance, meetings, negotiations and business writing. Before becoming a teacher he worked in brand management and retail distribution

Tom has been in Sri Lanka since October 2007. He previously worked as a teacher and trainer in the Czech Republic, Turkey, Germany, and Japan.

He has a Diploma in English language teaching and an MBA in marketing. He is also a qualified oral examiner for the IELTS and Cambridge exams.

In his free time Tom likes travelling, reading, hiking and mountain trekking.

Sam graduated from York University in 2001 after reading American history. During and after which he worked as a customer service officer for Barclays bank. He also has experience in the hospitality industry as a conference co-ordinator. He began work as a teacher in Vietnam in 2002 where, amongst other contracts, he was a teacher trainer for the University of Hanoi and conducted courses for Cannon printers.

He is currently finishing his Cambridge Diploma in language teaching and plans to take an MA in education in the UK or Australia in 2008.

In his free time Sam enjoys motorbike touring holidays and SCUBA diving.