TEACHER TRAINING TEAM
Name: Sam Pickard
Birthplace: Sheffield, England
Residence: Marbella
Sam is the Publishing & Training Manager at Burlington Books and has been giving talks and classes for over 20 years. He started teaching at an all-girls school in Birmingham, UK back in the 1990’s and before that he was the singer and bass player in a hugely unsuccessful rock band.
Favourite Place in Spain: Valladolid, ¡Aupa Pucela!
Name: Nick Evans
Birthplace: Swansea, Wales
Residence: Madrid
Nick Evans was born in Swansea, South Wales and travelled the world as a radio operator in the British Royal Navy before moving to Spain in the year 2001. He became an in – house teacher trainer at Burlington Books in 2010.
Favourite place in Spain: Fisterra, A Coruña. (Finisterre), “The end of the world” that looks so much like home!
Name: Jon Ostler
Birthplace: Bristol, England
Residence: Madrid
Jon Ostler has been working as a teacher trainer for Burlington Books since 2007. He worked for local government in Wales before becoming an English teacher in 1998. He has worked in different areas of Spain and also spent two years teaching secondary English in Qatar.
Favourite place: Asturias
Name: Mark Samson
Birthplace: Bristol, England
Residence: Bilbao
Mark is a teacher trainer and speaker at Burlington Books and has been giving classes and talks since 2015. He started teaching in 2008 in English language schools and giving in-house Business English classes at various companies in the Basque country. His passions are spending time with his family and electronic dance music. He has been DJing in night clubs and at music festivals around the UK and Spain for the last 20 years.
Favourite place in Spain: Cantabria
Name: Jon Iveson
Birthplace: Hull, England
Residence: Valencia
Jon is the head of Teacher Training at Burlington Books. Originally from Yorkshire, England, he has spent more of his life living outside the UK than in the UK. He moved to Spain permanently in 2008 but before that he lived in lots of different countries throughout Europe, North Africa and Asia working as an English Teacher and before that in the world of tourism.
Favourite place: Alcudia, Mallorca
Name: Liliane Téhéry
Birthplace: Brittany, France
Residence: Ingenio (Gran Canaria)
Liliane has been teaching English for the past decade. Before that she was an organic producer then health food store manager in the west of Ireland where she lived for more than 20 years. She likes singing (with and without her students), hiking and the sun. That’s why she loves Spain!
Favourite Place: The Canary Island
Name: Cristina Vargas
Birthplace: Puerto Rico
Residence: Barcelona
Cristina is an American Teacher Trainer at Burlington Books and has been teaching and translating for over 15 years. Being from Puerto Rico means that she is a native English and Spanish speaker, the best of both worlds! When she isn’t moulding young minds as a teacher, she enjoys all things music, either going to festivals or collecting vinyl records and DJing whenever possible.
Favourite Place: Menorca
Name: Johnny Flynn
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
Residence: Seville
Johnny has been teaching English in Spain for over 12 years to students of all ages and levels. He started teaching English in a language school in A Coruña and moved on to work as a freelance English teacher. Prior to this, he worked for technology companies (in both the UK and Ireland), managing teams in the area of financial services, project management and customer service. He loves coming up with tricks to help students improve their English.
Favourite Place: Galicia
Name: Danny Rae
Birthplace: Calella, Spain
Residence: Calella
Danny was born in Calella, but his parents are British. His mother is from Manchester and his father was from Wales and they met at Liverpool University at the time the Beatles were beginning their career! He loves travelling all over Catalonia and teaching students about all things British. In his free time he goes hiking and plays padel, tennis and golf. He supports Manchester United and Barça.
Favourite Place: Barcelona
Name: Amy
Birthplace: Liverpool, England
Residence: Valencia
Amy started working with Burlington Books in Andalucia in 2021 and she is now working in Valencia. In 2016 she graduated in Fashion Management and Marketing and got stuck into a career in buying and product development. Having always wanted to travel, she decided to venture over to Spain in 2019 and teach English. She is an experienced exam preparation teacher.
Favourite place in Spain: Fanzara, Castellon
Name: Damien Sheehy
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
Residence: A Coruña
Damien has been working as a teacher trainer at Burlington Books since 2021. He started teaching English at private language schools and colleges in 2003. He also worked in sales and marketing, mostly in tourism, in A Coruña. In his free time he’s a part-time synth hobbyist who likes electronic music.
Favourite place in Spain: A Coruña
Name: Cristina Cummins
Birthplace: Nottingham, England
Residence: Murcia
Cristina is from Nottingham, England, the city famous for Robin Hood. After graduating from university with a degree in Spanish Studies, she moved to Spain where she completed a CELTA course to teach English as a foreign language. Her passion is teaching, both the language and culture. She has gained experience working in bilingual schools as a language assistant as well as Director of Studies in English language schools.
Favourite place in Spain: Tarifa where she can practise her favourite hobbies, surfing and yoga.
