Our staff

Orieb is the Director of the University Language Centre’s LEAP programmes which involve the organisation and delivery of the courses in 14 different languages – ranging from Arabic to Urdu. Orieb is a recipient of the University Exceptional Performance Award in recognition of her contribution, work and commitment to the University.

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Ikram teaches Arabic on the University’s institution-wide language courses. Originally from Morocco, Ikram holds a degree in Hebrew & Jewish Studies and a master's degree in Language Education as well as a PGCE in MFL. She has a particular interest in Semitic languages and Arabic poetry. Outside work, her interests include travelling, cooking and amateur photography.

Please note that Ikram is currently on maternity leave and she is not due to return until June 2023.

Yosra is a Language Tutor in Arabic.

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Wayne has been involved in British Sign Language since 1998 when he was advised to specialise in something while studying counselling and psychotherapy, this started his love for BSL.

He has delivered training to AGE UK & NHS as well as Manchester university.

He loves educating people on BSL and deaf culture which is becoming more popular and the first GCSE in BSL starts in 2025, exciting times for BSL.

Manchester university students are lucky to have Manchester deaf centre so local to the university to access and the deaf history museum.

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Susan is a Language Tutor in Chinese.

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With studies in Languages, Literature and Foreign Civilisations (Master’s Degree), Elizabeth started teaching for the University of Manchester in 2001 and was nominated in the 2013 Manchester Teaching Award organised by the Students’ Union for Best Humanities Lecturer. She is a Language Tutor in French and has taught and developed French Business Courses, French Medical Courses and French General Courses. She is a certified examiner for the CCI Paris Ile-de-France oral exam and holds a PGCert in Higher Education from the University of Manchester.

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Gaëlle is a Senior Language Tutor in charge of the coordination of French courses in LEAP.
Originally from Nantes, Gaëlle holds a Licence (B.A.) in English from the University of Poitiers, a Master's in teaching French as a Foreign Language from the University of Grenoble, and gained her Qualified Teacher Status from the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research in London. Gaëlle also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education with The University of Manchester. She has experience in the Secondary and Further Education sectors in Canada, Hungary and England. Gaëlle was nominated for the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2020-21.
Her interests lie in teaching specialised French (business, tourism and medical) and enhancing the employability of French-speaking students.
She is also interested in translation, having worked on various projects funded by the European Union, including the translation of a book for a visual arts organisation Fabrica, based in Brighton.
In her spare time, she enjoys running, swimming, hiking and cooking.

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Dorit has been teaching German on the institution-wide course programme since 2009 and on the degree programme since 2020. She is the Goethe Exam Officer and director of the Goethe Exam Centre Manchester. She has a Master's degree in German, English and Scandinavian philology from the University of Vienna and used to teach at schools both in Austria and England. She has a particular interest in communicative teaching, including games to enhance learning. Outside work her interests include dogs and dog-sledding, music, motorbikes, and keeping fit.

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Birgit Winnington is a native German speaker born in Bielefeld, Germany. She is a fully qualified Goethe examiner and work as a German language trainer for LEAP.

Her professional experience spans many years, with teaching experience at the European Commission, in business and at university.

Her motto is that learning a language should be fun. An understanding of language and culture is a real advantage in creating career opportunities.

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Sandra has an interdisciplinary background in German and English as a foreign language teaching. She has a master’s degree from the University of Freiburg, Germany, and holds a Doctorate in Education from Newcastle University. She completed her teacher training in Germany and has taught in the secondary school and FE sector, on international HE foundation programmes, and at under-and postgraduate levels at different universities in the UK. She has a particular interest in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and has been involved in research projects on digital materials creation and Global Citizenship Education.

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Christina taught modern foreign languages in FE before joining the University of Liverpool in 2017 and the University of Manchester in 2024. Her professional interests include the improvement of language teaching; the education and professional development of teachers; and the refinement of theory and method in language teaching. Christina's research examines curriculum improvement and pedagogy in modern languages, and the nature of educational reform.

Qualifications
MA (University of Liverpool) Applied Linguistics
CPE (Cambridge)
Cambridge ESOL CELTA 2008 (University of Liverpool)
CertEd (John Moores University)
DILS-PG (University of Perugia, Italy)

Peer-reviewed journal article
Journal of Education and Learning “Foreign Language Learning, Motivation and the Market Economy” Published Vol. 5, No. 1, March 2016

Chikako teaches on the University's institution-wide language courses in Japanese. She holds a degree in Education and her specialised subject is Japanese. She has a wide range of experience in teaching: from primary school pupils to adults. She is creative in adapting the delivery method in her courses to suit the individuals studying that course. 

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Motoi has both his undergraduate and master's degree's from the University of Niigata, Japan and a PGCE from the University of Central Lancashire. He prides himself in using as little English as possible in his lessons and always being rated well on his teaching in the end of year students' questionnaire! Outside of work he loves trees, wildlife and skiing.

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Mikiko is a Language Tutor in Japanese.

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Narae is a Language Tutor in Korean who has been teaching at the University level since 2018. She has a particular interest in corpus-based language teaching, AI-assisted language learning, and discourse analysis.

Narae completed her MA in Korean Education as a Foreign Language at Yonsei University and holds an MSc in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Korean Studies.

Ready to explore the world of Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky? Looking for a career boost or a personal challenge? Want to unlock a powerful new skill and connect with a global community of over 250 million speakers? Then let Elena, a native Russian speaker and university tutor, graduate of the prestigious Moscow Pushkin Russian Language Institute, guide you on your journey! Learning Russian can open doors to incredible travel to many post-Soviet countries where Russian is spoken as a second language, often due to historical reasons. While it’s the official language in four countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan), it’s also widely spoken in former republics of the USSR, including Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Learning Russian not only creates opportunities for exciting careers but also provides a deeper understanding and appreciation of a rich and fascinating culture. So, let’s dive in and see what awaits!

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Justyna has been with the Language Centre since 2006 where she is a Language Tutor in Polish. She holds a degree in Polish Language and Literature (Poznań) and a PhD in Polish and Drama Studies (Manchester). Outside teaching, she has recently worked on some theatre-related translations. In her spare time she loves walking and cooking plant-based food. 

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Silvia Vilar Gonzalez has a Doctorate in Teaching Second Languages (Spanish) by the University of Barcelona, a Ms. in Secondary Education, and another Master in Creative Writing, being a Spanish Philologyst (that is an Honours Degree in Spanish Language and Literatures). She is a hard-core Linguist!

But for the sake of not accepting labels, she am also a published author of Fiction Literature, an Award winning Literature Translator, and Copy Editor (worked for Penguin-Random House for 5 years in Barcelona) and a Poet in the make, with a passion for Children´s Literature in three languages: Catalan, Spanish and English.

She lived and worked in the US for 16 years, before arriving in the UK in 2017, and had the privilege to help hundreds of students to become confident second language learners and culture explorers while teaching at Ivy League Universities like Duke University, Clemson University and Syracuse University. In the UK, she has taught at King´s College London, the London Business School, Instituto Cervantes in London, University of Durham, and for the past years, at the University of Manchester.

Being spoken as far as in Africa, and the America´s, from the Andes to the pristine Galapagos Islands, Spanish will open the doors to a world of hospitable, generous, and incredibly resourceful and artistic people who enjoy life beyond compare, and value relationships over things.

Learning Spanish could be just the right kind of challenge you will ever need to prove yourself you are capable of achieving anything in life, with the right amount of passion.

Welcome to your second home!

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Sandra is a senior language tutor in Spanish and co-convenor of the Special Interest Group in Less-widely Taught Languages (LWTLs). Sandra holds a degree in Philology and Languages, an MA in Applied Linguistics in TEFL, an MA in Translation Studies, a PhD in Language Education and a PGCert in HE from The University of Manchester. Her interests lie in the sustainability of LWTLs, the use of technology in language teaching and autonomous learning. She enjoys foreign films and playing tennis.

Research profile

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Ana is Senior Language Tutor for Spanish at the Institution Wide Language Programme where she teaches general Spanish, Medical Spanish and translation. Ana did her BA and MA (Specialized Translation) at the University of Valladolid, Spain. She holds an MSc in Machine Translation from UMIST and at the University of Manchester she completed a PhD on the connection between translation,  Machine Translation, Computer Aided Translation, Computer Assisted Language Learning and language teaching/learning.

Ana researches and publishes in the fields of technology-enhanced language learning, innovative use of educational tools and the integration of technology for blended/distance learning. Ana was nominated Most Inspiring Lecturer at the STAR Manchester Student Union Teaching Awards 2017. In her spare time she enjoys sketching, painting and trekking.

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Mayte teaches on the University's institution-wide language courses in Spanish and she has taught in the Centre since 2001. Her work and studies over the years have concentrated on developing her love for teaching Spanish, in the classroom and online or computer aided language learning. The dissertation she wrote for her M.Ed., titled “Exploring the integration of virtual and face to face learning in Higher education “, helped me to introduce it in her classes, and since then she has been in close collaboration with other tutors and course managers to improve the courses in an effect to help a more diverse group of students.

Through her work, studies and research she wrote ”On Course Spanish”(with Sandra Truscott and John Morley as editors). She enjoys the challenge of creating accessible material for the different needs related vocabulary, such as Spanish for specific purposes or Spanish for the different students´ needs (British Airways, Engineering, Business and Medical students, among others).

She has worked in many institutions including:

• Salford University (International Training Centre, preparing students for Spanish for specific purposes and DELE diploma);
• Central College in Manchester (preparing students for GCSE and A´level);
• ”Agrupación de Lengua y cultura Españolas” (Teaching children and adults to prepare them for the DELE exams);
• The University of Manchester (Teaching Spanish at all levels for the LEAP department and teaching on the European Studies Course for the Medical school.)

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Mercè teaches on the University’s institution-wide language courses in Spanish. Originally from Barcelona, Mercè holds a degree in Politics and Contemporary History, a Masters degree in International Business and another Masters in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language. She has a particular interest in languages and cultures and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

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Tuğgen teaches on the University’s institution-wide language courses in Turkish. Originally from Turkey, Tuğgen holds a joint degree in English Language and Literature and English Language Teaching. She has a particular interest in translation and interpreting studies and is an avid linguist who enjoys lengthy discussions around grammar rules in a variety of languages immensely. Outside work, her interests include travelling, walking, folk dancing and jigsaw puzzles.

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Aida was trained as a painter and graduated with a BSc in Industrial Design from the Alzahra University of Tehran. She relocated to Sweden in 2000, where she worked in theatre and museum curation and exhibited her paintings in Sweden and Germany. A book of her poetry, Forbidden Peace, was published in Stockholm in 2003. She moved to the UK in 2007 to do her Master of Arts degree in Theatre Studies at the University of Manchester, then a PhD there (2008-2012) in Art History, entitled ‘The Reception of Surrealism in Iranian Art and Literature’. She has published a number of scholarly articles for peer-reviewed academic journals and one for a Festschrift. Before the pandemic, she convened a successful international conference ‘Modern Iranian Art and Architecture in the Shadow of the Classical Persian Past’ at the John Rylands Library, Deansgate, Manchester. She currently teaches Persian at the University of Manchester. 

Iran is a beautiful country. Located at a crossroads of international trade and commerce since ancient times, it has a long and rich history with a diverse and unique culture. Learning Persian will allow you to gain a new perspective about life in a civilisation that is truly ancient and still plays a major role in the modern world. Iran is famous for its literary, scientific and artistic achievements since antiquity, and learning Persian will give you access to a whole new world of knowledge and understanding. Iranian people are very friendly and hospitable toward foreigners, and you will find them delighted to help you with learning to speak Persian.

Where is Persian spoken?

• Iranian Persian (Persian, Western Persian, or Farsi) is spoken in Iran, and by minorities in Iraq and the Persian Gulf states.
• Eastern Persian (Dari Persian, Afghan Persian, or Dari) is spoken in Afghanistan.
• Tajiki (Tajik Persian) is spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It is written in the Cyrillic script.
• Millions of Iranians now live abroad, especially in the United States and Canada. Iranians have radio and television stations broadcasting across the world in the Persian language, including the BBC Persian Service and Voice of America (VOA).

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We have a dedicated administration team for the University Language Centre's LEAP Programme who can be reached on leap@manchester.ac.uk