On my calendar, August is the start of the new year. Each summer, LCC International University begins with a new cohort of teachers in our MA TESOL program. Like other years, our fresh group of students are eager and ready to dive into the program.

This group of seven students have lived in 11 different countries and together they speak a total of 12 different languages for a truly internation group! They have taught groups in public school and individuals in private lessons. They are teachers, administrators, and project managers. They have taught young learners, middle schoolers, secondary pupils, and adults. They have experience teaching online and face-to-face. Here is a glimpse of who they are.

Raminta recently graduated with an English degree from LCC. Then, she taught English in a secondary school before transitioning to teaching adults in her hometown of Siauliai, Lithuania. Raminta attended elementary school in Spain, so Spanish her is her other language.

Originally from Tajikistan, Nasiba taught English at youth centers, in NGO projects, in public schools, to private students, and with US AID in her home county. Currently, she is an English teacher at private school in Texas, USA. Nasiba’s specialty is teaching young learners.

Yuliia graduated from LCC with a degree in English. But even before she graduated, Yuliia had already volunteered to teach English in her home country of Ukraine, and she worked an au pair in the USA. Yuliia loves young learners; she taught English at the Franciscan kindergarten in Klaipeda for a year.

Amber Dusenberry is transitioning to a new school in Mongolia where she and her family have lived for four years. Amber started teaching young learners in Iowa, then gain experience teaching online to students in China, before moving to Ulaanbaatar in 2020. Amber will catch up with her husband and son after her short visit to Lithuania.

Rachel comes with plenty of classroom teaching experience. She taught English at three junior high schools in Taiwan and China. Currently, Rachel is the ESL Program Coordinator at a preparatory school in the USA. Rachel speaks her mother’s L1, Tagalog.

Nicoleta enters LCC with “both feet” this fall. Not only will she be a first year MA TESOL student, but she will also teach English in LCC’s Intensive English Program (PRIME). Originally from Romania, Nicoleta and her husband have lived in Albania, Turkey, and Canada. Nicoleta has a background in nursing and English teaching.

Jelena is a familiar face at LCC; Jelena is the director of LCC’s Career Development Center. Her experience teaching English to adults for a cruise ship company led her to enroll in the MA TESOL Program. Jelena already holds a MS in International Management. She speaks Russian, Lithuania, German and, of course, English.

We welcome this group of professional teachers to LCC’s MA TESOL program. They will learn much from each other as they study and research together. Let’s get started!

Author: Robin Gingerich, Ph.D., MA TESOL Program Director at LCC International University.