Founded in 2004, the experienced team at Active Language deeply care about your success. Join us online or in our fully equipped centre in a typical Andalusian mansion in a leafy plaza in the heart of the old city just ten minutes’ walk from the beach
Hi!
I’m Dani and I am one of the founding members of Active Language so I have been here from the very beginning!
I’ve been working in EFL since 1997. I did my TEFL course in 1995 and have a very strong memory of my first day. I remember walking into the TEFL training centre, a beautiful Georgian house in North London, and I really felt like I had found my place. There were students from all over the world milling around chatting in English, posters on the wall full of strange phonetic symbols and a real buzz about the place – it was really exciting and I have never looked back.
My first teaching job was in Istanbul. I worked at an amazing school which had a very structured training programme which was great for a teacher fresh off the TEFL course. The school was full of like-minded people and I made some very deep friendships which have lasted more than 20 years.
After a stint in London, I then went and taught in Costa Rica, in my humble opinion, the most beautiful country in the world. Being an English teacher gave me the means to live there for a year and a half and enjoy all it had to offer.
Another stint teaching in Central London was followed by a move to Spain where I still am! After 2 years working in Seville, I moved down to Cádiz and set up Active Language in 2004.
I immediately knew on moving to Cádiz that this would be the place I would stay. I’ve been here since 2003 and love it as much as I did then. The air is clean, the sky is blue, the people are warm, the sea is amazing – what’s not to like?!
My role at Active is as Director of Teacher Training, I run the CertTESOL courses and also coordinate and tutor on the Trinity DipTESOL which we run with a centre in Barcelona.
The thing I love most about my job is the people I work with and the variety, the fact that every training course is different and what I do know is that there will always be interesting people popping up along the way.
When I’m not training, I love yoga, devouring books, making food (usually inspired by a slight obsession with cookery programmes!) and walking.
Hi!
I’m Simon, one of the founding directors of Active Language, Cádiz. First of all, I’d like to welcome you and I look forward to meeting you soon. You can always email me at simon@activelanguage.net about anything about our courses, teaching English or anything related!
What do I love most about my work? It’s got to be about connection! I love connecting with people in almost any situation, it’s generally a good thing but because I love it so much, I can be easily distracted. I also love working on the teacher training courses helping teachers with the next stage in their professional development both during and after the course. Our promise of lifelong support through the Careers Service is absolutely real and one of my favourite parts of the job. My day-to-day involvement in the courses varies but I’m always around for a supportive chat whenever I can.
I am passionate about our English language teaching profession; it has given me so much over the years and continues to do so. I started teaching for two reasons: I always wanted to travel but never really fancied living out of a rucksack, I wanted to really live somewhere and secondly, I’d done some bits and bobs of informal teaching in different ways and thought it might be the way for me. I did my course in 1997 and since then I’ve been fortunate enough to live and work as an English teacher in Turkey, the UK, Costa Rica and Spain. I feel so lucky to have lived in all these amazing places through my work, connected with so many different people and cultures and each experience has had a deep effect on me. My Spanish adventure started in Seville and then in 2003 brought me to Cádiz.
I could write pages on my love for Cádiz, but I’ll try to keep it brief. There’s something magical about Cádiz… the centre of Cádiz is largely free of cars and full of life. It’s a small, friendly city where it’s easy to get to know people and it’s surrounded by the sea meaning beaches, boats and fabulous food! Maybe it’s the fact that Cádiz has always been a port city that adds something special to it. Geographically, it’s oddly stuck out in a little corner of Spain. People come to Cádiz because they really want to, and it never disappoints! It has an authentic soul, the real Spain, that you won’t find in many other places, scratch the surface and you’ll discover some of the aspects of this place that make it one of Spain’s best kept secrets.
Offering the Trinity Certificate and Diploma in TESOL courses provides us with a beautiful opportunity to help people start and continue their TEFL journey with confidence and support. For me, it’s the best job in the world in the best place in the world – I just love it!
Looking forward to meeting you soon!
I’ve been living and working Cádiz since 1999 and began teaching and training at Active Language in 2008. I’m a tutor on the CertTESOL course and also the Materials Assignment tutor, so will give you guidance on this assignment during input sessions. When I’m not training, I teach groups of all ages from 3-year-olds to adults and I have to admit, I don’t have a favourite age group as each one has something special or surprising! I also teach exam preparation classes for both young learners and higher levels.
To continue my professional development, I go to conferences such as ACEIA and TEFL del Sur.
In my free time, I like to read, watch series on Netflix and travel whenever possible.
Hello! I’m Andrew, I’m from Wales and have been teaching English since 2010, I’ve taught in the UK, Italy and Spain. I’ve been working at Active for 7 years and teacher training since 2020, I tutor on teaching practice and give input sessions on the course. When I’m not teacher training, I teach English to classes of all levels and ages. I first started in ELT in a summer school in Milan and immediately knew it was meant for me, and still love the job today, from singing and playing games with young learns to getting really geeky about grammar with advanced learners. In my free time I like to make music, reading and long walks.
Hi! I’m Yuan, I’ve been teaching English here in Spain for 7 years now and taught business English in Czechia before then after completing my degree in English Literature in Leicester. I provide the second language training course on the CertTESOL course which is lots of fun. In my daily job I teach English to all ages and levels both in the classroom and online, it’s hard to say which I prefer as both present very different challenges and opportunities, but I have to say nothing quite beats the energy of a classroom full of learners.
When I’m not working, I enjoy long walks out in the country and connecting with nature. I look forward to meeting all the new trainees on the course.
I'm Olga, I've been working at Active Language since 2007 and I'm the administration coordinator.
I was born and studied in Cádiz, growing up in Cádiz has many advantages, it is a small city with amazing beaches, good weather and better gastronomy.
In 2004 I moved to Milan with an Erasmus scholarship to study the last years of my university studies in Business Administration and Management. I stayed there for two years, combining my studies with odd jobs, which helped me to meet people from many countries and to develop a great interest in languages so, when I returned to Cadiz to graduate, I signed up as a student in Active Language's internship classes, which allowed me to practice my English and to continue meeting people from other countries, and so the opportunity to join the team arose.
What I like most is reading, especially crime novels, travelling, good food and long conversations with friends.
Hi, I’m Ceri. I teach Welsh for the Unknown Language assignment on the CertTESOL course and I tutor on the Trinity Diploma face-to-face teaching practice courses. They’re two very different roles with different challenges and rewards, and all part of the variety that is the spice of life in any TEFL career.
I started out teaching on summer schools in the UK and got my first full-time job in a small town in Italy. I was really lucky to work for a great school and although I’d initially only planned to be there for a year, I stayed for ten! Those ten years laid the foundations for so many different career paths in EFL: training, materials writing and management. I also taught a fantastic variety of classes of all ages and all different kinds.
From Italy, I went back to the UK for two years to complete an MA in TEFL and to experiment with working in universities there, but I missed the south of Europe and the buzz and busy-ness of EFL language schools, so I took a job in Madrid as a DOS at an IH school, and fell in love for a second time with a new culture and a new language and a demanding job. Madrid is a great city and I loved living there, but with two young kids and more and more opportunities to work online, the beach seemed like a better place to be and we relocated to Cádiz. It was the best move ever!
Since I moved here, my work has become more and more varied: a combination of teaching, training and materials writing in so many different contexts. Combining online and offline work means there are so many opportunities to explore and teaching and training at Active Language are an important part of my busy TEFL life!
Hello! My name’s Teresa, or T, and I’m one of the tutors on the Cert and DipTESOL courses. I also do some of the admin for Teacher Training so we might well be in touch before you come to Cádiz.
I’ve been teaching in Spain since 2004 and joined Active in 2009. The thing I love most about training on the courses is that it makes me a better teacher, not only in terms of the practical classroom delivery but also by making me much more aware of a lot of the theory involved behind my decisions when I’m lesson planning.
As well as teaching and tutoring, I enjoy speaking at conferences around Spain and was part of a group which founded a local teachers’ organization, TEFL del Sur. I’m definitely not an expert in any area and have given talks on a range of different topics, though I tend to go more for practical ideas sharing than high-brow academia.
I’ve recently got into the world of materials-writing and have worked on the teachers’ book for a National Geographic project as well as C1+ and B2 coursebooks for teens.
When I’m not working, I love trying out different craft beers, watching sci-fi and fantasy films and series and running.
