Fredrik was born in Malmo, Sweden in 1980. He left Sweden for Scotland to study History at the University of Aberdeen and it was during the summer breaks while at university that he discovered that he enjoyed teaching English.

After university he returned to Sweden, before going to England and gaining a CELTA certificate. He then spent the next six years teaching in China before coming to Ukraine. His main interest is still history, and he also enjoys playing chess in his free time.

Martin is from Scotland. He has a BSc in Cell Biology, a Postgraduate certificate in Russian Language, the Trinity Certificate and Diploma in teaching English.

He started teaching in 1993 and has taught in Moldova, Russia and joined the British Council in Kyiv in 2004. Martin is interested in using drama in his lessons, particularly role-play. His other interests include cycling and travelling and he is also a big Glasgow Celtic fan.

Lyuda is from Uman and has a degree from the Kyiv Linguistic University as a Teacher of English Language and Literature. She also has a CELTA and IHCYL.

She has been working as a teacher for over ten years and joined the British Council Kyiv in April 2008. She enjoys teaching Young Learners and General and Business English to adults. Her hobbies are ballroom dancing, tennis and travelling.

Weslie is from Los Angeles, California in the United States. She has a BSc in Business Administration and Management Information Systems. She holds a Cert. TEFL, a Teaching One-to-One Certificate, a CELTYL, and a DELTA. She is an IELTS examiner and has extensive experience in teaching Business English.

After working in IT for several years, Weslie decided to change careers and has now been teaching for six years. Prior to coming to Kyiv, she worked for the British Council in Bahrain, where she got involved in teacher training.

In her free time, Weslie enjoys knitting, practising and teaching yoga, swimming, hiking, cycling, travelling, and going to the ballet.

David is from Scotland and has a Bachelor of Science in History and Geography. He also has a PGCE in Geography, a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Education for returning teachers from the University of Kent and a Cert TESOL qualification.

David has been teaching for over five years and joined the British Council Kyiv in January 2006 and has also taught in Spain and Indonesia. He enjoys teaching Business and Financial English and his hobbies are travelling and reading.

Katya is from Russia and has an MA Honours in Linguistics from the Department of English and German Languages of the Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University. She also has a CELTA and prior to becoming a teacher worked as a translator and interpreter for the Kyiv Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Katya’s teaching interests are teaching adults and General English. As a former linguistics major she believes that the key to success is through communication and self-motivation. Her hobby is jogging.

Julyan is from Croydon and has a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural and Historical studies. He has a CELTA and is a Cambridge FCE/CAE examiner. He taught in Odessa for nine years before coming to the British Council in 2009, and is most happy in a class of enthusiastic learners.

He enjoys speaking Russian in his free time, and would like to visit Krizhopal one day. His passion is mixing music; focussing mainly on a mash up of genres, overlaid with break beats and dirty bass lines with a bit of oomph.

Gary was born in Northampton, England, and moved to London to study painting at the Byam Shaw School of Art. After graduating he practised as a professional artist in London and East Berlin whilst taking his Masters degree in the History & Theory of Modern Art at Chelsea School of Art.

After completing his Masters with a Distinction he became involved in a variety of professional roles connected with marketing, market-research and property before deciding to teach English. He completed the CELTA in 2002 and worked for a couple of private language schools before becoming Cambridge lecturer.

In 2003 he moved to Poland where he first joined the British Council. He took the CELTYL young learner certificate in 2005. In September 2008 he moved to the British Council in Mauritius and then in September 2009 he moved to Kyiv where he now lives with his wife Agnieszka.

Matthew was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, and studied in Scotland before embarking on his teaching career. He moved to Prague in 2006, where he trained and taught for several years. Prior to moving to Kyiv he worked for the British Council in Bahrain where he was actively involved in professional development networks, participating in seminars and giving workshops to Ministry of Education teachers. His current professional interests are Second Language Literacy and English as a Lingua Franca.

Matthew holds a Cambridge Diploma (DELTA), CELTA and CELTYL. He is currently studying for an M.Ed in Applied Linguistics.

When he has time he is a keen musician and outdoor enthusiast.

Matt is from the north-east of England, and graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a BSc (Hons) in Consumer Marketing. He decided to change career path, and in 2008 received his CELTA in Budapest.

He enjoys teaching as it gives him the chance to interact with interesting people and develop their ability to communicate using English. His interests include boxing and learning.

Olena comes from Donetsk and graduated with honours from The Gorlovka National Linguistic University as a Teacher of English, Russian and German Language and Literature. Lena has both a CELTA and a DELTA and has now been teaching for over 12 years.

She first started working for the British Council in Kyiv in 2008 and before this she worked for International House as a Senior Teacher and teacher trainer. Lena is a Cambridge examiner for the most of Cambridge exams for children and adults. Her teaching interests are Business English and teacher training.

She also enjoys using media as a teaching resource in class. Her other interests are travelling, yoga and Asian culture.

Natalia is from Luhansk and has a BA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language as well as an MA in Public Administration with a specialisation in Project Management. During her studies Natalia got a scholarship from the US Department of State to participate in Freedom Support Act Undergraduate Program at Clemson University in South Carolina, USA. She also has a CELTA and IH Certificate in Teaching Young Learners (with distinction).

Natalia has been teaching since 1999 and started working at the British Council in October 2008. She likes teaching adults and Business English and at the moment she is exploring task-based learning. Her hobbies are yoga, juggling, travelling, contemporary art and meeting new people.

James was born and raised in Streatham, south west London and then went on to study Philosophy and Politics at the University of Liverpool. After university he trained as a journalist, obtaining a distinction from the National Council for the training of Journalists in 2003.

He has written for the Liverpool News and Echo, and the Wimbledon News and Guardian where he covered matches of his beloved AFC Wimbledon. James passed the CELTA certificate in 2004 and is now an Cambridge examiner. He has taught in Odessa and Mykolayiv, in Ukraine, Messina, in Italy, and most recently at summer schools in Rochester, Canterbury and Bath in England.

He started working for the British Council in September 2009. James loves sports, art and design, reading, travelling, learning new languages and playing the guitar.

Nasser was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to Cheltenham, England at an early age. He gained a BA (Hons) in Politics at the University College of Swansea in 1993. Having decided that he wanted to travel around the world, he chose to take a CELTA course, and later completed DELTA. He taught in Russia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Egypt, Jordan and Singapore before starting in Kyiv in August 2011. Nasser feels that the biggest pleasure in teaching is the fact he learns just as much as his students do.

Nasser loves listening to music (a huge fan of the late, great Frank Zappa), reading (favourite authors Graham Greene, Joseph Heller and George Orwell) and watching films (best ever movie ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’). He also enjoys travelling, learning languages, hiking and eating. He adores Middle Eastern and Vietnamese cuisines.

Joel comes from Torquay and studied pharmacology at Hertfordshire University. He has been working as an English teacher for 8 years, and has both a CELTA and DELTA qualification.

He worked in Korea, Lebanon, Japan, and South Africa before coming to Ukraine, and enjoys teaching because it gives him an opportunity to experience new cultures and meet people. In his free time he enjoys snowboarding and scuba diving, and in the future would like to visit Colombia.

Maria was born in Samara, Russia and graduated from Shevchenko University in Kiev with a Master’s Degree in Spanish and English. She also studied Hotel Management, holds a CELTA certificate, and worked as a translator in Ukraine before becoming a teacher.

Maria joined the British Council in July 2010. She likes teaching adults and enjoys variety and diversity in teaching. Maria used to be a ballroom dancer, but now she is keen on cycling, hiking and travelling during her free time.

Galyna is from the Chernigiv region and received her Bachelor’s degree as a teacher of English at Nizhyn State Pedagogical University. In 2006 she graduated from Kyiv State Linguistic University as a teacher of English and German language and foreign literature. Galyna has been teaching for over four years and has the CELTA and CPE. She is also studying French and German.

Galyna started working for British Council in July 2010 and her professional interests include teaching Young Learners as well as Business and General English to adults. In her free time she enjoys doing yoga, cooking, painting, fashion design and making clothes.

Peter is a Qualified State Secondary teacher of English Language & Literature. He spent 8 years in this sector working in Leeds and the Isle of Wight, later transferring to Botswana as part of the TBRS programme. Between two 3-year terms in sub-Saharan Africa, there was a spell as English Advisor at the University Medical School of Pecs, Hungary. Subjects taught: ESP (Nucleus Medicine), CPE, CFC, Literature in English. He has also worked in The Netherlands (Delfzijl), Italy (Molise), Croatia (Pula) as a language teacher. He has just passed 7 years in Ukraine working for various private language schools and is now busy trying to be an arboreal and horticulturalist at his dacha in Osokorki. Peter used to be a keen golfer and lawn tennis player.

Marianna is from Zaporizhzhya. While at school, she won a scholarship and went to the United States. In 2008, Marianna graduated from the National Kiev Linguistic University and has a Master’s degree in psychology and English philology.

Marianna has been teaching for more than 5 years and has also passed the CELTA. She enjoys teaching because it is stimulating and provides the opportunity to be creative, apply non-standard approaches, meet a lot of interesting people and help adults and children to interact with this world.

In her free time Marianna does yoga, dances, sings and reads a lot of books.

Jonathan’s originally from Cambridge, UK. He started teaching English in 2002 after spells as a professional musician and a journalist, and gained his CELTA. He has taught in Hungary, Slovakia and the UK. He came to Ukraine in 2006 fascinated by a country that is less well known to western travellers and joined the British Council in 2010.

He enjoys teaching Business English and holds a BSc from Cardiff Business School in Wales. He also has an active interest in political science, and two years ago completed an MA in European Studies at the University of Sussex, where he studied EU-Ukraine relations. He has written for the Kyiv Post on the subject and also lectures in European Studies next door to us at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

As with many other teachers he’s a keen football fan. He also enjoys travelling around Europe. Jonathan speaks Hungarian and French and is currently studying Ukrainian.

Brian was born in Scotland. He later moved to Australia, where he completed a Bachelors Degree in English Language and Literature, and History. He received his PGCE in English and History and began teaching in Australia before moving back to the UK.

He has always been interested in teaching English, first teaching migrants as part of a government volunteer programme while he was studying his PGCE in Australia, and then spending a year teaching in Turkey. He moved to Kiev in 2009 and has enjoyed teaching Business English to some of Ukraine’s major companies. He loves using a variety of resources to contextualise English learning and produce challenging and engaging lessons.

His interests include socialising with friends, learning Russian and French, and creative writing. He has finished writing his first novel and is currently completing his second.

Elizabeth is from England. She has a BA honours in Russian and Soviet Studies and has a TESOL, a CELTYL and also a Trinity Diploma in English Language Teaching.

Liz started teaching at the British council in Kyiv when it first opened in 1992 when she first conducted teacher training and then trainer training. Currently, she is teaching pre-school children. She is also the Exams Team Leader for the British Council Kyiv centre.

Liz is interested in teaching very young children as well as Business English and Exams. Her personal interests include music, theatre reading and translation.

Rhonda is from Wales and has a degree in Modern Languages (Russian, French and Spanish). Her teaching qualifications include a Trinity TESOL certificate, the DELTA and the CELTYL.

She has been teaching for 12 years and has worked in Russia, Portugal, Lithuania and started working for the British Council in Kyiv. Rhonda’s interests include horticulture, theatre, painting and cycling.

David is from the Highlands of Scotland and studied psychology at the University of Aberdeen before working with adults with learning disabilities. He completed his CELTA in 2006, after which he worked in Taiwan, Japan and Bahrain. There he continued his professional development by completing the YL extension to the CELTA.

Dave particularly enjoys teaching Young Learners but outside of work his other interests are football, squash, travelling, cooking and reading.

Daniel comes from England, Northern Ireland and the United States. He studied history at Tufts University in the US, and has an MSc in International Relations from Edinburgh University. He has been working as an English teacher for 5 years, and before coming to the British Council, he taught in the Czech Republic, Lviv, Spain, Latvia and Kyrgyzstan, as well as at various summer schools in the UK.

He also recently completed a PGCE in Secondary History & Social Studies. More than anything, he loves having the opportunity to shape young minds and impart his joy for the English language on his students. Among his extracurricular interests are sport, reading, writing, cooking (he’s ambitious, not necessarily good) and halfway decent conversation.

Katherine was born in Grodno, Western Belarus. She got her Bachelor’s and Master’s of Linguistics at Minsk State Linguistic University. After nine years of university teaching she made a gradual shift from dry theory to lively TEFL practice – and has not regretted it ever since.

Through the years has taught various English language courses for all ages in Minsk, Moscow, Kharkiv and Kyiv. Her biggest teaching interest is establishing rapport and positive atmosphere in the classroom. Katherine has already done CELTA and now works on DELTA.

In her free time, Katherine translates books from English into Russian (incl. novels by Chuck Palahniuk, Douglas Coupland, Neil Gaiman) and writes SF&F stories. In 2008, she was awarded the literary translation prize Zerkalo (‘Mirror’). Katherine is a member of the Russian Writers’ Union.