Our Staff

Management staff

The role of our management team is to make sure that every aspect of our services meets your expectations and our own expectations as a leading provider of language and cultural services in New Zealand (see Why Euroasia).

We monitor the performance of our staff and work extensively with them in a positive way to encourage their professional development.

Kenneth Leong - Director / Cross-cultural specialist 

In addition to having overall leadership responsibility for the Euroasia team, Kenneth is one of very few cross-cultural consultants in New Zealand. Kenneth has advised government and business organisations on strategies in working with people from other cultures and delivered seminars in this area. He is passionate about helping people connect across cultures. He has also appeared on national media discussing cross-cultural issues. Prior to being Director of Euroasia, Kenneth worked in the Auckland offices of a global investment bank and for a multinational consulting firm. Drawing on his over 10 years of consulting experience, language and cross-cultural skills, Kenneth now leads business development initiatives at Euroasia. 

Peter Chapple - Consultant

Peter has a master's degree from Cambridge University in German and French, as well as a postgraduate teaching qualification. He has long been fascinated by languages around the world, learning a number of them to varying degrees. After teaching German and French for a few years in his native UK, he worked for five years at an English language school there; he also taught English in Germany for one year. After coming to New Zealand in 1992, he acted as a language school consultant before becoming principal of a large Christchurch language school, a position he held for 9 years. Peter's extensive experience in the education sector coupled with practical knowledge of how to work with people from all walks of life makes him well positioned to advise clients at Euroasia. Peter is responsible for various client projects as well as research and development activities.

Teaching staff

Our teaching staff come from many different countries and many walks of life. Our teachers typically fit the following profile: native speaker of the target language; very good English; tertiary-level qualification; teaching qualification; relevant teaching experience. However, more important than any of these are a real interest in language and in language teaching, plus the ability to stimulate enthusiasm for their own language and culture.

Here are some of the people who fit the bill!

Auckland teachers (European languages)

Jose Luis Valdivia - Spanish teacher 

Jose is a qualified and experienced teacher from Chile, where he obtained a BA in education. He taught Spanish and English at a Chilean school in Santiago for nine years before moving to New Zealand in 2007; he has been working for Euroasia since then. He has proved to very popular with a wide range of students from beginner to advanced level, and he has also taught a number of children's classes in local schools. Jose really engages with his students, and they tend to come back to his classes again and again. He also enjoys organising parties and events. You can't help noticing his enthusiasm from the very first class. In his spare time, he likes to listen to music.

Cedric Dalby - French teacher

Cedric comes from Montpellier in Southern France. He has a master's degree in political sciences, but has moved gradually into language teaching! After living and studying in Northern Ireland for a year, he worked in Japan for 14 months, where he taught French. It then seemed natural for him to become a French teacher, because he found that he loves talking to people from about French language, culture, cuisine and wine! He loves travelling and living in different countries and has been in New Zealand since September 2008. He is very friendly, and will make you feel at ease before you start the lesson. His motto: "le français, c'est facile!" - "French is easy" (if I can speak it, so can you!).

Victoria Frenzel - German teacher 

Victoria is from Munich, Germany where she studied to become a translator and interpreter. She complete a Master's degree in Translation at the University of Auckland and has been working as a translator for the past six years. She gradually moved into language teaching as she enjoys conveying German language and culture. Other languages and cultures are one of her major interest and she has learnt four second languages. Therefore, it seemed natural to her to be teaching German in New Zealand. She is also CELTA-qualified.She also enjoys the cross-cultural exchange, which includes activities such as German music, German movie screening and dining out in a German restaurant as well!

Anna Lazar - Italian teacher

Unusually for an Italian teacher, Anna actually comes from Italian-speaking Switzerland - and she is half-Swiss and half-Hungarian. With this backround, it's not surprising that she speaks 6 languages! Her academic and professional background is in education and development work, and she taught English in Guatemala; she is also an interpreter. She is also CELTA-qualified. Anna says that she really enjoys communicating with people of various backgrounds, and she loves to teach since she finds herself learning at the same time.

Anelita Casquel - Portuguese teacher 

Anelita has degrees from her native Brazil in both Administration and Portuguese language with specialisation in Linguistic (University of Brasília, BR). She has had substantial work experience in Brazil, both in Management and Administration, and in teaching Portuguese. Since coming to New Zealand in 2008, she has devoted more time to teaching Portuguese, which she enjoys enormously! Anelita has the warm and vivacious manner which you would expect of a Brazilian, and really engages with students. She is also really enthusiastic about her native culture, and gives students a lot of insights into life in Brazil. Anelita loves swimming, travelling and Brazilian food. She has been teaching at Euroasia since 2008.

Auckland teachers (Asian languages)

Elaine Wu - Chinese (Mandarin) teacher 

Elaine came to Euroasia equipped with both a Chinese degree in English education and a master's in  adult and higher education from the University of Auckland.  She has now been engaged in language teaching and research for over ten years, and has real enthusiasm for language teaching and learning. 

She employs both communicative and task-based language teaching techniques to motivate learners’ interest in Chinese language and culture, and enjoys sharing her culture through class discussions and activities such as dining out in Chinese restaurants!   She has been teaching at Euroasia since 2007.

Takako Fujiwara - Japanese teacher

Yuna Lee - Korean teacher

Christchurch teachers

Cindy Sun - Mandarin teacher

Originally from Shanghai, Cindy has been studying and working in Christchurch for some time now.  She has a BA in education from her university in China, and also a graduate diploma from Canterbury University.

She has taught English and Mandarin in China, and in Christchurch she also teaches Chinese language and culture to children of Chinese descent. Cindy has a very warm and engaging manner, and students have been delighted with the progress they have made!