Resume

Maria Teixeira-Alves studied Germanic Philology at Porto University in Portugal before coming to Australia where she graduated from the University of Sydney with a major in Linguistics and then undertook post-graduate studies in Vocational Education and Training and Public Relations at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Maria has led a career in the development and implementation of policies, training programs and resources in the NSW Department of Education and Training for 23 years. She also taught Portuguese to speakers of other languages in the Cambridge Institute in Porto and reading and writing to adults in the Portuguese Association in Sydney. Maria is a native speaker of Portuguese and has also studied French and Italian at the University of Sydney.

Resume

Pernilla has an Advanced Certificate in Language Teaching and has been working as a teacher since 2014. Currently, she serves as the Headteacher (Principal) at the Swedish School in Sydney, leveraging her background in sales and marketing. Pernilla is a driven and dedicated teacher, ensuring that her lessons are interactive and enjoyable by utilizing various methods to enhance language absorption in the brain. She firmly believes that anyone can learn, with the only question being how. Therefore, come prepared with your post-it notes, and be ready to utilize online tools while having fun learning Swedish.

Resume

The Deaf Society of NSW. Tutor of WEA Sydney

Resume

Sonya Thompson, MA, MALP, has taught in the subject areas of history and politics for over thirty years, much of that time with the WEA. Sonya holds postgraduate degrees in history, law and government. Her studies focussed on Australian history and international relations. Sonya believes the study of history is important because we need to understand the past to truly understand the present. Sonya embraces the opportunity the WEA provides to share learning with students and to exchange experiences and viewpoints. Sonya believes that learning should be about challenging views and perceptions, including her own.

Resume

Dr John Tidmarsh was formerly President of the University of Sydney's Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation and currently Chairman, Executive Committee of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens.  He was previously  part-time lecturer in the Department of Archaeology. He is also Co-Director of the University's excavations at Pella in Jordan, and the ANU/University of Melbourne excavations at Jebel Khalid in Syria. He has also excavated in Greece and Cyprus. His special interests are in the Hellenistic period in the East (in which area he gained his PhD) and in the art and archaeology of the Islamic period. He has led numerous tours to Iran, Oman, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and other countries in the eastern Mediterranean.

Resume

Toastmasters. Tutor of WEA Sydney

Resume

Elsa (BA) is an emerging researcher of classical philology and history. For several years, she has taught both young students and adults; she approaches her tuition with warmth and enthusiasm. She has received numerous awards for her academic work, including the Douglas Kelly Australian Essay Competition Prize (subsequently published in “Classicum” 49), the Audrey Meaney Prize, and the Ancient History Senior Essay Prize. Presently, she is undertaking an Honours thesis in Latin literature at the University of Sydney. Her ecocriticism- and posthumanism-informed scholarship examines ancient conceptions of the non-human world and their practical ramifications, with a particular focus on environmental ethics in Roman poetry. Her interests extend to modern literature, art history, the French language, Baroque music, and film.

Resume

Graziella Trafeli (GDLIS - Graduate Diploma of Library and Information Studies, Australia) is a native speaker of Italian residing in Australia since the mid-1980s. She has led a vast range of courses in settings such as the WEA, the Dante Alighieri Society, Co.As.It, the Institute of Foreign Languages (University of NSW), Continuing Education at the University of Sydney, several local Sydney Community Colleges, and within the corporate sector. While teaching and working for Waverley Library, Graziella penned short stories as part of a collection of short novelle published by the Italian Consulate, Sydney in 1999, and a number of articles in the bi-weekly publication II Mondo and the Italian publication Melting Pot; from 1992 to 1996 she was a casual broadcaster, producer, and researcher at SBS Radio for the Italian Program. Graziella is an enthusiastic and outgoing teacher whose animated style encourages interaction from her students. She uses a variety of teaching methods and provides support materials to aid and assist student learning. For Graziella, studying a language prepares you to understand a great deal more than words or phrases, but more importantly, the culture and history of a different people.

Resume

Hugh Tranter is an author and historian, with interests in creative writing and the research and examination of Australian history.

Resume

Liem Truong. Tutor of WEA Sydney