Teachers and staff
Ana Ruiz González holds a 5-year Spanish Philology degree (equivalent to a Masters Degree), majoring in Spanish Linguistics and Literature, University of Alcalá, Madrid; a Diploma of Education, University Complutense, Madrid, and a Post-Graduate Certificate, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London.
Ana has worked since 1990 in various Universities – Charles University, Prague and Palackého University, Olomouc, both in the Czech Republic; the University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain; La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and Monash University, Melbourne.
In Prague, she was a member of the DELE examination Tribunal for four years.
Ana established El Patio with Toni Edwards in 2001, and is the academic coordinator of all courses. She has a methodological approach which pursues the skill of the student in different situations and communicative contexts taking into account the formal study of grammatical rules as well as non systematic learning based on the student’s own experience.
Lorena Belmonte Fresneda is originally from Spain. She holds a BA in Educational Psychology (Malaga University) and a Post Graduate Certificate of Education for LOTE in Secondary Education which she studied at Canterbury Christ Church College in England.
She has been teaching languages since 1998; In Spain for 3 years, then she worked in England for six years teaching Spanish in an Adult Education Centre as well as a Secondary School.
She is a very enthusiastic teacher who enjoys sharing her knowledge of languages and culture. She especially likes adding cultural aspects to her lessons as she believes it is a key part of learning a foreign language. She has developed a visual and communicative approach to language teaching. She also likes to create a relaxed atmosphere where students can feel comfortable and not afraid of “having a go”, something that is not always easy in the foreign language learning process.
Craig Baron Burgess has been part of the Spanish-speaking world since living in Mexico in 1999 and has lived and worked both in Mexico and Spain. He has also travelled extensively in Hispanic America and the Peninsula as well as many other parts of the planet.
Craig completed the BA (Languages) at Monash University in 2003 with Honours in Hispanic Studies (Linguistics). The focus of his investigation was immigration and Spanish identity in the Spanish press. He has studied in Mexico and at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain and holds the DELE certification at the highest level. More recently, in 2010-11, Craig studied at the Universidad de Granada as part of a BA (Fine Art), which he is currently completing at VCA (Melbourne University).
During 2004 and 2005 Craig taught at Monash University and coordinated the off-campus Open Learning Australia program for Spanish. Craig has been teaching at El Patio since 2004.
Craig’s classes are fun, and often delve into relevant social, historical, political, environmental and culinary realms inspired by the students' interests. The development of cohesion within the student group and the satisfaction of the inquisitive mind are features of Craig's teaching style. His classes thrive on a blend of his energetic attitude, the students' enthusiasm for learning and the quality teaching environment of El Patio.
Craig in front of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain
Rocío Jiménez Espino is from the south of Spain, Sevilla, a city with a rich cultural heritage.
She obtained her degree in English Philology at the Universidad de Sevilla, as well as a course in teaching Spanish as a foreign language. After completing her studies in 2004, she gained a two-year teaching fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA). There, Rocío taught and coordinated beginner levels and conducted some meetings of the “Tertulia” chatting group. She also volunteered in an elementary school to help bilingual children develop reading skills in English and Spanish. Back in Spain, Rocío continued teaching Spanish at the Instituto San Fernando, a private academy for learning Spanish. After that, she gained a position as a teacher in a high school in South Carolina, USA, where she worked with both regular and IB students.
Nowadays, Rocío is a teacher at El Patio and a tutor at the University of Melbourne. She enjoys teaching and tries her best to make her students have fun, learn, understand and discover everything that learning Spanish implies: language, culture, gestures... She likes her classes to be active and communicative by making her students feel comfortable and confident, even if it is the first time they are learning Spanish.
Manuela Cavuoto is a native of Mar del Plata, Argentina, a seaside city five hours south of Buenos Aires.
Manuela holds a BA (Teaching History) from the University of Mar Del Plata and a Diploma in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language. She lived in the United States where she moved to improve her English and it was during her stay that she starting to teach Spanish as a second language. Mexico was her next destination, where she taught Spanish to tourists and backpackers in Puerto Escondido, a small town known for its beaches and fantastic waves. Manuela moved to Melbourne in June 2007, where she expanded her experience in teaching, working at various language schools as well as the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. Last year, she moved to Canada where she learnt French and also taught Spanish at Platon Language Centre. Having taught Spanish for over 6 years she has a broad range of teaching experience.
Manuela is passionate about the Spanish language and culture, in her classes there she creates an inviting enviroment where people feel comfortable and enthusiastic about learning.
Dayra Delgado Alzate graduated with an Education degree majoring in Social Sciences and the Spanish Language at the University of Distrital in Bogotá, Colombia.
She has taught Spanish in a variety of important high schools and was the founder and director of a student newpaper entitles ‘La Antorcha’. She has also been the co-ordinator of various research projects and editor of the journal Hispanoamérica.
Having spent a year living in the United States where she carried out an exchange programme, Dayra taught Spanish as a second language. There, she created a conversation club called Español en América which was a place for lovers and fans of the Spanish language.
Currently, Dayra lives in Melbourne, a city which thanks to it’s multicultural character reminds her of her native Bogotá.
Amanda Todd first started studying Spanish in 1994. She is originally from Arizona, USA and holds a M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction and a B.S.ed in Spanish and Secondary Education, with an ESL endorsement.
In 2000-2001, Amanda studied at the Universidad de Granada in Spain for one academic year as part of her Bachelor’s degree. During this time she was engrossed in Spanish culture, making many significant connections with Spaniards and their culture through friends and living with a host family.
From 2004-2008, Amanda taught Spanish at Ralston Valley High School in Arvada, Colorado, USA where she was actively involved in cultural projects with the students, including organizing and chaperoning student trips to Costa Rica and Spain.
During 2003 and 2009, she lived and worked in Asunción, Paraguay. She taught both English and Spanish and became a part of the community. She coordinated an exchange program, acting as the chaperone of Paraguayan students to travel to the USA, living with host families and going to an American high school. Additionally, she helped train teachers as part of the Trinity College London Cert TESOL program and taught academic writing to university students.
Amanda is enthusiastic about students using Spanish to communicate in any possible moment in class. She provides clear and complete grammatical explanations, and is excited to share stories about her many cultural experiences living and traveling through Spanish speaking countries.
Isidro Martínez García was born and grew up in the state of Morelos, México and later lived in Mexico City for 12 years and loved the cultural and historical richness of the city.
He holds a degree in Business Administration and worked several years in human resources, creating and coordinating training courses as well as giving them. He has always been passionate about the Spanish language and always tried to juggle his professional life with one of his greatest interests; literature. He published a collection of short stories and prose poems in Mexico, La travesía de los sueños perseguidos, in 2004 and is about to publish a short novel. He decided to change career, obtained a Diploma in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language and moved to Australia in 2008. Since then, he has been teaching at various language schools in Melbourne.
Isidro is passionate about teaching Spanish and, in his classes, he motivates his students to learn and communicate in Spanish from the very first class creating a comfortable and enthusiastic environment. He also enjoys sharing with his students the culture of the Spanish speaking world. Having learnt other languages himself, Isidro is aware of processes and explanations that can help newcomers to Spanish quickly and easily understand new concepts.
Raquel Ramos Josa comes from Astorga (León), a small town in the Northwest of Spain.
She gained a degree in Spanish Philology at the University of Salamanca and then a Diploma of Education from Barcelona University, where she lived for 12 years. There she specialised in teaching Spanish as a second language, which she has been doing for nearly 15 years. After Barcelona she lived for nine years in Granada working in a very busy and well known school, three of them as Head of Studies. She also specialised in the preparation of the DELE exams, being a member of the Tribunal on several occasions.
Raquel moved to Australia in 2008. After having lived in a number of old and magnificent towns (Astorga, Salamanca, Barcelona, Granada) she considers Melbourne a great place to live because it has personality and that most important thing, human warmth.
Guillermina Rollero is a native of Mar del Plata, Argentina, a seaside city five hours south of Buenos Aires.
Guillermina holds a BA (Teaching ESL) from FASTA University of Mar Del Plata and a Diploma in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language. She lived in New Zealand where she started to teach Spanish as a second language. She later came back to Argentina where she continued teaching both Spanish and ESL. Guillermina moved to Melbourne in July 2008, where she expanded her experience in teaching, working at various language schools.
Isabel Arenales Aylagas was born in Castilla y Leon, Spain, in a 500 year old village protected by a castle shaped like a ship. She completed her six-year degree in Spanish Philology in 2005, during which time she spent a year in Italy teaching and translating Spanish at the Cervantes Institute, Padua.
Moving to England, Isabel worked for local Brighton company “Buenos Dias”, running both adult and toddler classes. After a quick stint living on the west coast of Ireland – where she still managed to give private tuition to Spanish language students – Isabel recently moved to Australia, which, as far as her mother is concerned, is quite possibly on the moon. Nonetheless, Isabel has quickly established herself at El Patio with her passion for her native language and her enthusiasm in teaching it.
Isabel’s excellent standard of English allows her to communicate with her students at an advanced level to enhance their learning. Having also learnt Italian to a fluent level, Isabel understands the process of learning another language. As a lover of Spanish cuisine, it is with some regret she has noticed that Australia has not yet widely discovered the delights of tortilla de patata and jamon iberico but does appreciate that the coffee is just as good.
Toni Edwards established El Patio with Ana Ruiz in 2001. Her experience in creating and managing a business was gained from the Black Cat Café in Fitzroy, Melbourne, which she co-established and operated for 20 years until 2002.
At El Patio Toni wears many hats including those of head administrator, business manager, designer, IT manager, webmistress, and she enjoys all of them immensely.
She holds a BA in Music and Languages, La Trobe University and an Introductory Cert. in Teaching English as a Second Language to Adults, Massey University, NZ. She also holds the Spanish Diploma DELE (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera), Nivel Superior (proficiency level). Essentially Toni is an autodidact who likes to learn hard things on an as-needs basis, and enjoys exercising a variety of skills in the running of an organisation.
As an enthusiastic language learner since her teen years (she's currently studying Thai), Toni's motivation and hope for El Patio is to offer students the encouragement to pursue multilinguilism as well as the facilities, ambience, resources and openness that she would ideally enjoy in her own studies. She hopes that her love of systems, manuals, charts and tables provides effortless and efficient back-end administration and support.
Director of Studies
Teachers
- Lorena Belmonte Fresneda
- Craig Baron Burgess
- Rocío Jiménez Espino
- Manuela Cavuoto
- Dayra Delgado Azate
- Amanda Todd
- Isidro Martínez García
- Raquel Ramos Josa
- Guillermina Rollero
- Isabel Arenales Aylagas