Instructors

IAEP offers highly qualified, caring instructors with professional teaching credentials and years of experience teaching English as a second language (ESL) to students in a variety of settings. Our instructors have taught around the world and frequently speak multiple languages. They understand what it means to be a "language learner," and they can prepare you for diverse and challenging academic and professional environments with confidence, proven expertise and compassion.

Zue Acker, M.A., became a teacher-trainer of the Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) after teaching in Spain, Ecuador and England. Working for various schools, she taught both teachers and ESL students for 12 years. In 2007, she gained a distinction in her TESOL master's at Oxford Brookes University. Most recently, she has enjoyed teaching immigrants at Laney College in Oakland, Calif., and City College of San Francisco. In her free time, she is an oil painter and a student of arts and language.

Angela Blackwell, M.A., has been teaching English as a foreign or second language (EFL/ESL) since the early 1980s. Originally from Ireland, she taught English in England, Ireland, France and Spain before moving to San Francisco, where she worked for many years as a teacher-trainer with the University of Cambridge CELTA program. She holds a master's degree in TESOL from San Francisco State University and is co-author of several EFL/ESL textbooks, including English KnowHow (Oxford University Press, 2003) and Open Forum (Oxford University Press, 2008).

Ben Feinbaum, M.Ed., returned to Berkeley, Calif., in 2009, after 15 years living and teaching overseas in England and New Zealand. Recently, he has taught intensive English at private language schools in San Francisco and has worked with many ESL students through UC Berkeley Extension, teaching classes in writing, idioms, public speaking, American culture and conversation. He enjoys bicycling, jogging and hiking Bay Area park trails; playing table tennis; listening to jazz; collecting rare books; and gardening.

Wayne Macedo, M.A., has taught English to international students for more than 20 years throughout the United States, France, Japan and Eastern Europe. His courses have covered all aspects of the English language, from basic conversation and vocabulary to academic writing and business English. His diverse interests include film study, literature, cooking, international politics, medicine, football and parrots, all of which he hopes to combine someday into a book or website.

Gabriella Megyesi, M.A., started teaching in her native Hungary in 1991. She then completed her M.A. in TESOL and Cambridge Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (DELTA) in England and started training ESL teachers. She has taught general English, exam preparation, business English and academic English. She makes frequent presentations to TESOL.org and manages teacher training at St. Giles International in San Francisco. She enjoys hiking, walking her dog and traveling; her ambition is to visit every U.S. state. She speaks several languages, including Hungarian and Russian.

Leesa Sopjes, M.A., earned her M.A. at American University in Washington, D.C. An experienced EFL/ESL instructor, she has taught in Croatia and the U.S. She particularly enjoys helping students develop grammar, pragmatic and vocabulary skills. She is interested in current affairs, political and social change in developed and developing countries, and changes in English language use. Her hobbies include volunteering at an animal shelter, hiking with her dog and listening to early Grateful Dead.

Instructors

IAEP Instructor Benefits

Supportive Staff Members