IH Tarragona
Keith Armstrong
Keith comes from Bath in the south-west of England and has been Director of International House Tarragona since 2007.
In addition to a degree in French and German, a Postgraduate Diploma in Conference Interpreting and the Cambridge DTEFLA, he has just completed an MA in Applied Linguistics-English Language Teaching. He has taught English in the UK, France and Egypt and has previously worked as a Conference Interpreter and Tour Manager.
His hobbies include languages, tennis, walking and travel and his most memorable trip was travelling down the Nile and across Lake Nasser for two weeks and ending up at the Great Temple of Abu Simbel.
Tony Hurford
Tony grew up on a farm in the south-west of England and in addition to teaching he has worked in agriculture, forestry and construction.
He is married and lived in Canada for 10 years, where his two children were born. He studied modern languages at Exeter University and has taught English in the UK, where he obtained his Cambridge CELTA teaching qualification.
He has been with International House Tarragona since 2008 and his hobbies included cycling and reading. He has travelled extensively, most notably in Latin America.
Jayne Copping
Jayne has been teaching for over 25 years, in England, Spain and France.
Most recently she ran a busy college department in the UK helping people to get the qualifications they needed in English.
She has the Cambridge DTEFLA and has been a CELTA trainer for the past seven years.
Her hobbies include archaeology and playing chess.
Allan Watson
Allan comes from Malvern in central England. In addition to the Cambridge CELTA, he also holds an MA in Sociological Research as well as undergraduate degrees in International Relations and Ocean Science.
Previously he has worked for the ambulance service in the UK as a control assistant.
His main hobby is rock climbing, which he hopes to pursue whilst in Tarragona at the nearby crags of Siurana and La Mussara. One of his most memorable climbing experiences was completing the Cuillin Ridge on the Isle of Skye in north-west Scotland.
Mark Skinner
Mark was born and raised in the peaceful Suffolk countryside. At the age of 21 he packed up his tractor and headed off to the bright lights and congestion charge of London. Once there, he spent 10 highly enjoyable years working in Children’s TV, but something was missing…
Travel had always been a big hobby, but now it was to become part of his work. So, after training with a CELTA course in London, he moved to Costa Rica to begin his career as a teacher.
He has since worked in Valencia, San Sebastian (also with IH) and now resides in sunny Tarragona where he happily awaits the next Santa Tecla festival and some sunny days on Arrabassada beach.
Lisa McConville
Lisa has been teaching English since 2008. After completing her BA Honours Degree in English at The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, she moved to Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh to complete her Cambridge CELTA qualification and begin her teaching career.
Finding her native Scottish weather a little cold, Lisa then travelled to Australia and New Zealand where she taught English and travelled for a year. Upon her return she taught for a period of time in Valencia and San Sebastian before moving to Tarragona in September 2011. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys reading, cooking and travelling. With great memories of her previous travels, she looks forward to travelling to many other parts of the world to teach.
Joe Wilsdon
Joe was born in London, but has lived in rural Dorset for most of his life, when not teaching abroad. Even before he had graduated in English Literature, Joe was already in the EFL classroom, aged just 20, at a 2002 summer school in China.
He fell in love with the job and has never looked back. After earning his CELTA the year after graduation, 2004, he has since taught in Japan, Eritrea with Voluntary Services Overseas and Colombia. He moved from International House Bogota to Tarragona in 2011. He is currently working towards the DELTA certificate, and hopes to be a CELTA trainer in the future. In his spare time Joe is a keen football fan (and player when given the chance), amateur writer and enjoys cycling and reading. He´s also trying to learn Spanish and become more computer literate…especially to master the interactive whiteboards!
