EnglishIH 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.
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!
Ben Horbury
Ben graduated from Southampton University with a degree in Management, but following a trip around South America, decided to move into teaching English. Initially, this took the form of teaching English as a second language at a boarding school in the south-west of England. However, a summer teaching in Barcelona whilst gaining the Trinity Diploma in 2008 convinced him of the merits of a move overseas. Finally making the move to Tarragona in September 2012, Ben hopes to improve his Spanish during his time here as well as taking the opportunity to see Barça at Camp Nou.
Lauren Gurteen
Lauren comes from Hampshire in England but has lived in many different places: London, Nottingham, Bristol and also for some time in the United States, Peru and Brazil. She studied English and Classical Civilisation at University but also has a passion for Art which she studied up to Foundation level. Originally her background was in Publishing and Marketing working for companies like the BBC and HarperCollins but later, tired of the office world, she fancied a career change and explored the world of cookery, spending some time in the South of France working for a 5* B&B, before choosing to focus on teaching and completing her CELTA in 2011. Last year she worked in Oxford and Bristol teaching young adults and teenagers but she has now come to Spain looking for new challenges and adventure. She loves travelling and meeting new people and her hobbies include writing and photography.
Jasmine Bird
After graduating from Hull University with a BA degree in Modern Languages, Jasmine decided to move to Galicia and then to Catalonia. She has lived in Spain for over 10 years now and taught people from all walks of life, from ship captains to folk musicians. It has been a very enriching experience and she feels it has helped her to become more open-minded and outgoing. Apart from learning to speak Spanish fluently she has also acquired many valuable teaching tools. She is enthusiastic, energetic and has endless patience. She can empathize with her students as she has also studied modern languages. Jasmine has a real passion for languages on the whole and feels that being able to speak any language can be a truly rewarding experience. She would very much like to learn German in the near future. Apart from reading in Spanish and English she also enjoys going for long walks, visiting art galleries and swimming in the sea when she has the chance. Next year she hopes to gain a qualification in translation from The London School of Linguists.
