The Academic Credentials of the Cactus Language’s Academic Team

Our Academic Department consists of two highly qualified individuals, who are experts in teaching, and experienced in language learning. They are responsible for helping develop our language courses and resources enabling them to offer ongoing support and training to our vast network of tutors and trainers, and of course, they are always on-hand to answer your queries.

Meet the Team

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Our Director of Studies in the UK, has a BA (French, Indonesian; James Cook University), a PostGrad DipEd (ESL/EFL/French; University of Queensland), and a Masters in Linguistics (JCU).  Rod has close to 30 years of TEFL experience, Cambridge Speaking examining, linguistic research at UQ, JCU and Oxford, Torres Strait music research, computer networking,
CALL and database development/management.

image – Our Assistant Director of Studies in the UK,
has a BA Hons in Hispanic Studies and Politics from the
University of Liverpool, a certTESOL from Trinity College London
and a post graduate Diploma in English Language Teaching
Management from Trinity / English UK. She has worked
extensively as a languages teacher, teacher trainer and
educational manager in the UK, Spain and Mexico.

Here at Cactus Language we offer free language level tests for anyone who is unsure of their language level.  However, should you have any academic inquiries then please do not hesitate to contact one of our team either by email or by calling: 0845 1304775 (UK) or 1-888-577-8451 (US) and selecting option 5.

Cactus Language offer a variety of language courses in the UK, New York and worldwide.

Cactus Reveals The Winner Of The 2013 Cactus to Conference IATEFL Scholarship

October 2012

Cactus is very pleased to announce that Louise Cranston is the lucky winner of the 2013 Cactus-to-Conference IATEFL Scholarship .  Louise’s scholarship entry was chosen as the winner out of the many entries submitted and she will be attending the conference in Liverpool next year, where she will receive free IATEFL membership and benefit her teaching career. Louise explains her future plans for development:

“Once I have gained 2 years experience of teaching I would like to do a DELTA or Trinity diploma followed by MEd Tesol with a view to progressing onto PHD level so I can contribute to the research field of TEFL. I am also interested in working at University level or in materials development.” Good luck, Louise!

The Cactus-to-Conference Scholarship was created in 2009 to enable one new EFL teacher the opportunity to become a member of IATEFL (the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language), and to attend the annual conference.  While all EFL teachers are eligible for IATEFL membership, in reality it’s not something that a newly qualified teacher can afford, so Cactus’ scholarship offers a unique opportunity to network and gain greater knowledge about the ELT profession.

Scholarship entrants this year were asked to draft a short article about their experiences of their best lesson.  Louise’s winning description of a particularly good class in a language school in the UK caught the judges’ attention and showed the hugely rewarding aspects of the job.

My Best Lesson

Cactus to Conference winning entry for 2013 conference

My most effective lesson was a skills lesson I delivered on speaking and skim and scan reading on the topic of travel and tours in the UK. The learning objective was for students to have practised skim and scan reading and have presented a pitch to advertise a 3-5 day tour in a country of their choice, incorporating recycled adjectives.

I believe the lesson was successful as it was both interesting and useful to for the students. I began by engaging the students by showing them pictures of landmarks in the UK and asked them to stand next to the picture of the place they would most like to visit. This provoked interesting discussion on a topic that was directly relevant as a number of the students were considering where they might wish to travel whilst in England. I then introduced a jigsaw skim and scan reading activity on the topic of tours in England, namely two similar flower shows. I produced question sheets for each text which encouraged the students to effectively scan read the article and analyse it accordingly to find the information they required. I then introduced a ‘comparisons’ question sheet and the students worked with a partner who had read an alternative article to compare, contrast and evaluate the tours to decide which was the best. This encouraged oral fluency with peer support and ensured the students used the texts fully. This worked well because a number of students were considering using organised tours to visit London so it gave them the opportunity to practise with an authentic text that was directly applicable to situations they would encounter outside of the classroom. The students then used the articles to find 5 adjectives and then came up with 3 of their own that they would use to sell a holiday or tour.

The students progressed onto using brochures to prepare a pitch for a tour of their own and used the adjectives they had found and listed. The students relished this opportunity because I provided an aim for the oral fluency activity by stating there would be a vote at the end for the best tour. This awakened their competitive nature and they enjoyed using the brochures to find good hotels and apply as many of the positive adjectives as they could. This led to very lively presentations which really demonstrated their ability and led to them asking questions about the tours’ content.

If you are interested in being considered for future Cactus-to-Conference Scholarships, please find more information here: https://www.iatefl.org/scholarships/

IATEFL  recently launched a trial of a new membership tier – Early Career Teacher Membership.  This new membership is a full individual membership, which includes a Special Interest Group and the opportunity to pay extra for discounted periodicals, but runs for two years.  It is open to teachers who are in the first two years of their ELT teaching career, who have never been a member of IATEFL before. As an Early Career Teacher member you will also be subscribed to an online Forum where you can seek advice from experienced members of the IATEFL community.  IATEFL hope that this will enable new teachers to grow and develop with other like-minded professionals, keep up to date with the latest developments and share their own new and exciting ideas. https://www.iatefl.org/membership-information/join-us

Tags: scholarship, iatefl, efl, course, cactus, learning, tefl, english

Please read about previous Cactus to Conference scholarship winners

Winner of the 2012 Cactus to Conference IATEFL Scholarship, Lizzie Pinard

Winner of the 2011 Cactus to Conference IATEFL Scholarship, Camila Heath

Winner of the 2010 Cactus to Conference IATEFL Scholarship, Fiona James

Cactus reveals the winner of the 2012 Cactus-to-Conference IATEFL Scholarship

Cactus is very pleased to announce that Elizabeth Pinard is the lucky winner of the 2012 Cactus-to-Conference IATEFL Scholarship.  Lizzie’s scholarship entry was the chosen as the winner out of the many entries submitted and she has now made all her plans to attend the conference this year, where she will receive free IATEFL membership and benefit her teaching career.

The Cactus-to-Conference Scholarship was created in 2009 to enable one new EFL teacher the opportunity to become a member of IATEFL (the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language), and to attend the yearly conference.  While all EFL teachers are eligible for IATEFL membership, in reality it’s not something that a newly qualified teacher can afford, so Cactus’ scholarship offers a unique opportunity to network and gain greater knowledge about the ELT profession.

Scholarship entrants this year were asked to draft a short article about their experiences of their best lesson.  Lizzie’s winning description of a particularly good day at work in Sumatra, Indonesia caught the judges’ attention and explained concisely the hugely rewarding aspects of the job.

My Best Lesson

Cactus to Conference winning entry for 2012 conference

It was seven o’clock on a Friday evening at the EF school in Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia: Time for my bi-weekly conversation class, level 5B. I walked into the classroom to be greeted by eight sets of tired eyes belonging to eight 16 -19 year old teenaged students, with books open in front of them but spirits filled with weekend-lust. The book, Cambridge Real Speaking and Listening, is great, but far from ideal for encouraging conversation amongst teenagers. Not wanting a rebellion on my hands, I used a lot of creative license to bring this book to life…

On the evening in question, the unit focus was making complaints and negotiating solutions in a business context: think broken photocopiers and the like. (See how this book and these students are not exactly a match made in heaven?!) As a warmer, they worked in threes, role-playing the argumentative customer, the unhelpful shop assistant and the manager. The only other information I fed in was location e.g. a mobile phone shop. My sleepy teenagers sprang to life, improvising brilliantly and setting the tone for the evening.

Next, we moved on to tackling the target language and vocabulary, by using some of the listening and vocabulary activities in the book. However, instead of having everybody filling in their book individually, and nodding off in the process, I had prepared some materials to turn the activities into team games. This worked a treat: the atmosphere was abuzz with collaboration and competition, as my two teams of teenagers discussed the challenges in excited, English whispers and raced to be the first team to complete each task.

Language input accomplished, it was time to check how much had been absorbed and prepare the students for the final activity: turning our classroom into a market place— “Bamboo Kuning”, a cheap but well-loved market in Lampung, to be precise! Firstly, I elicited language we had encountered that evening: that needed for complaining and negotiation and the board was filled, making it clear how much they had assimilated thus far. Then, half the class became buyers, the other half were sellers, while the classroom was transformed into our market place. Finally, I looked on as my teenagers embraced their roles and filled the air with their voices. What a high!

Time flies. Thus, after dismissal at 20:45, I bounded into the staffroom, extolling the virtues of my super teenagers and the enthusiasm, expressed in English, which had reverberated through my room that lesson. You can imagine my surprise when a local colleague informed me that the previous native speaker teacher had likened this class to teaching a bunch of zombies!

Einstein says, “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” This joy filled my room that night and many others. So, perhaps best of all, it was no fluke: Friday evening or no, we regularly turned our slightly dilapidated, pre-centre refurbishment classroom into a place where magic was made.

If you are interested in being considered for future Cactus-to-Conference Scholarships, please find more information here: https://www.iatefl.org/scholarships/cactus-to-conference

Top 10 Christmas gifts for language and travel enthusiasts in North America

1. A language course

Language courses make not only a very useful, but also a very original present for any friend/relative/partner who is interested in learning or brushing up a foreign language. There are hundreds of languages to choose from, and lots of ways to learn – evening courses in the US, immersion courses abroad, or even tailor-made tuition. Give us a call on 1-888-577-8451 (US toll free) for more information.

2. Lonely Planet’s ‘Best in Travel 2012’

A great book for any keen traveler, this guide presents the best destinations, journeys and experiences for 2012. Full of inspiration!

3. Lessons in foreign cooking

Anyone who has visited foreign shores will have tasted new and exotic flavors. Bring some Mexican spice into the life of a loved one by presenting them with a Spanish & Cookery course on Mexico’s beautiful Riviera Maya, in Playa del Carmen, where they will learn how to create some of Mexico’s most delicious dishes in an exotic garden kitchen.

4. Contribution to air travel

If you know someone with impending travel plans, why not help them out with the cost of their flight, or even buy the flight for them? Air travel is not cheap and any contribution will surely be gratefully received.

5. A pocket translator

Anyone who is travelling to countries where foreign languages are spoken could find a pocket translator very useful in a whole range of situations…

6. Downloadable language learning tools for your iPod

If free time is in short supply, a flexible and convenient way to learn a language is to download learning materials on to your MP3 player or iPod. With iTunes vouchers and the like, your friend or relative can download as much material as they like.

7. A travel journal

Lots of people like to write a journal while they travel, and it’s a great way to ensure that once-in-a-lifetime experiences overseas are never forgotten. A leather-bound journal to write in will make a great gift for anyone about to embark on world travels.

8. A charity donation in their name

Donating money to a charity is something that a lot of people would like to do, but is not something that everyone can feasibly afford. Making a donation on their behalf therefore might make a fantastic present. Donations to charities such as World Vision and UNICEF can be made via the Donation4Charity website.

9. A dictionary / phrasebook

They may not be as exciting as downloadable podcasts and other online resources, but dictionaries, verb tables and phrase books are an essential tool for anyone hoping to learn a language.

10. A TEFL course

Gaining a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) or TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualification is a great idea for anyone wanting to get out there and see the world. Teaching opportunities exist worldwide, and working in this type of capacity means that you can truly experience the culture of the country in which you are teaching. If this is something that your friend/partner/relative is interested in, why not book them on a weekend and online TEFL course in the location closest to you? New York, San Francisco and Boston are just a few of the locations where such courses are available.

Congratulations to our evening language course winner! July-October 2011

At Cactus we have come to the end of another term of evening courses, and are delighted to have chosen the winner of our feedback questionnaire prize. This is awarded to the person who we feel has given us the most useful and structured feedback, upon completion of their course, and the prize is a refund of their course fees or a free continuation course.

Our winner this term is Katie Webster Gomes, who took a Level 1 10-week evening course in European Portuguese at our centre in Soho, London, with teacher Fernando Almeida e Costa. Katie has chosen a refund of her course fees as she had already enrolled on and started her continuation Level 2 Portuguese course.

Here is what Katie said about her course:

“I chose Cactus because it was the only European Portuguese class that I could find when searching on the internet for classes. I enjoyed the course; it was good to meet new people and I have found it has really improved my Portuguese.

I found the majority of the content to be useful, or a good refresher of what I already knew. I found some things irrelevant, like learning metaphors that contained body words – even when saying them to my Portuguese husband, he said they were barely used, so I think these are certainly not relevant to beginners.

The teacher was good at encouraging role plays, and we all got to speak a lot due to the class size. I feel I have made a lot of progress and I am now able to say more to my husband and in-laws.”

Language learning resources that I found useful… The textbook from the course was useful, as was Google Translate for learning new vocabularly. The most useful resource I have found is “Earworms”, an audio CD where you learn phrases to music. I found that the new phrases I learnt really embedded in my head.

I really enjoyed… The whole experience! I enjoyed learning new words and phrases each week and meeting new people. I also liked having homework each week as it re-inforced what we learnt each week.

I didn’t like… The speed and amount we covered in Level 1. I think it is too much to cover in only 10 weeks and therefore I sometimes felt confused about what we covered in class and found it difficult to apply to the homework.

“Cactus language courses are a good way to motivate yourself to learn another language. They provide a good structure, as you have a weekly class and homework to reinforce what you learnt, which provides you with the essenitals and constant exposure to the language to allow you to quickly pick up new vocab and phrases.”

Thank you Katie; we will take all your points into consideration and wish you all the best for your continuation Level 2 course!

Lingu@net World Wide online resource centre launched

The new online resource centre is being developed by 34 organisations from 25 different European countries, and is receiving financial support from the European Commission Lifelong Learning Project. It gives multilingual access to over 3,500 catalogued online resources, many of them specifically for learners.

Learners can access the whole site in: Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish and Swedish.

Visit the Lingu@net World Wide website

Learning Spanish: Spanish language learning resources online

Taking a language course is a great step towards becoming fluent in a language. The interaction with your teacher and fellow students is something you cannot achieve through self-study alone. However, there is a lot to be said for self-study as a way to develop your written, spoken, listening and reading skills between lessons, and we are lucky to have a huge variety of fun and interactive products at our fingertips to enable us to do this. Whether it’s watching a film, reading foreign papers online or listening to a podcast, any supplementary activity will help you to consolidate, and vastly improve, your chosen language.

With this in mind, we have pulled together a list of resources which over the years our teachers and students have found useful. In this article we’re going to look at Spanish language learning resources online; this includes material such as Spanish flashcards, interactive quizzes and games as well as more in-depth grammar, vocabulary and verbs. We have graded each website according to the level it is aimed at.



Spanish flashcards https://spanishflashcards.tripod.com/ Beginners
Spanish flashcards & study games https://quizlet.com/subject/spanish/ Beginners
Interactive Spanish drama https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/mividaloca/userguide.shtml Beginners
Online resources & games https://www.onlinefreespanish.com/ Beginners
Spanish online course https://www.nocomprendo.es/learn_spanish_online/spanish_for_beginners/eng/ Beginners
Spanish songs https://www.songsforteaching.com/spanishgrammarsongs.htm Beginners
Spanish basics, games & verbs https://www.digitaldialects.com/Spanish.htm Beginners & intermediate
Teacher & student resources https://www.spanishprograms.com/learning_module/tutorial_index.htm All levels
Teacher info & resources https://www.todoele.net/materiales0.html/ All levels
Grammar, verbs & exercises https://www.esfacil.eu/en/ All levels
Interactive quizzes & sound clips https://www.quiz-tree.com/Spanish_Language_main.html All levels
Lessons, study tips, tools & fun https://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/ All levels
Online Spanish course https://www.holaquetal.com/web/hqt/home All levels
Step-by-step reading https://cvc.cervantes.es/aula/lecturas/inicial/lectura_05/texto/ Intermediate – advanced

If you have any further suggestions for study resources please share these with us by leaving a comment!

Learning Arabic: language learning resources online

Taking a language course is a great step towards becoming fluent in a language. It’s not all about sitting in a classroom though; there are plenty of ways to develop your written, spoken, listening and reading skills through self-study between lessons, and we are lucky to have a huge variety of fun and interactive products at our fingertips to enable us to do this. Of course it’s good to mix up your learning methods to work the different language skills, but each person will have a method that suits them best, and once you’ve found yours – whether it’s watching a film, reading foreign papers online or listening to a podcast – you can use this to your advantage to consolidate, and vastly improve, your chosen language between lessons.

At Cactus we have collaborated with our vast network of experienced teachers to bring you recommendations of ways to improve your language in your own time outside class. In this article we’re going to look at Arabic language learning resources online; this includes useful material such as basic greetings and Arabic word-of-the day as well as more in-depth grammar, vocabulary and verbs. We have graded each website according to the level it is aimed at.



Learn Arabic online https://www.learnarabiconline.com/ Beginners
Learn Arabic online https://www.livemocha.com/ All levels
E-learning website https://www.ajeeb.com/ All levels
Greetings in Arabic https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/hello-and-welcome-in-arabic/758.html Beginners
Arabic word-of-the-day https://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/arabic.html All levels
Arabic translation https://mylanguages.org/arabic_translation.php All levels

Cactus attends Dulwich College careers and courses convention

The morning-long event was attended by both students at the College and their parents, and attracted a long list of exhibitors including Raleigh International, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Projects Abroad and a range of top universities and colleges.

Cactus has arranged five school group trips abroad for students at the college – two to Cologne, one to Malaga, one to Pamplona and another to Valencia, which they will be going on this April.

We were delighted to be asked to attend the event, and Language Course Consultant Jennifer Maynard and Marketing Coordinator Lauren Carey were able to go along and represent the company.

They spent much of the morning talking to students who were interested in gap year programmes abroad and exam preparation/revision language courses to supplement their studies. Some of the parents who attended were also interested in our evening language courses in and around London, which we offer in a range of languages at lots of levels.

Everyone who attended the event had the option to be entered into a draw to win a week-long Spanish language course (and accommodation) in Valencia, and the lucky winner on this occasion was Justin Chenk. Huge Congratulations to Justin on his course, which will no doubt help with his Spanish studies!

We hope to attend the event again next year and would like to thank anyone who came along to see us this year.

Find out more on Cactus’ language courses abroad and options for school groups.

Why sign up for a foreign language evening course?

1. To prepare for a summer holiday on foreign shores

If you’re heading to a non-English speaking destination for your summer holiday this year, trying to learn the basics of the local language will stand you in really good stead when you arrive. Of course, you could probably get by without, but learning a bit of the lingo will help you get more from your holiday, and in certain scenarios could really prove to be priceless – especially if you have a family in tow.

If, on the other hand, you’re young, free and single, learning some of the language will prove very handy when it comes to chatting up the local lads or ladies! With a few choice phrases and some basic grammar up your sleeve, you never know…this could turn out to be the ‘summer of love’…

2. To give yourself an excuse for a holiday abroad (if you need one!)

Granted, for lots of people no ‘excuse’ is needed when it comes to booking holidays abroad…for many people, a foreign holiday is the one luxury that they afford themselves each year.

Other people however, need more of a justification for spending the money. If you’re one of these people, and guilt is getting the better of you, give yourself a justifiable reason to head abroad! Take up a language and, of course, you’ll need to practise those newly acquired skills…

3. To make the most of those long, summer evenings

Let’s be honest. Sometimes in the winter you just don’t feel like going out after a long day at work. The sofa and a dvd seem much more appealing than venturing out into the cold…BUT it’s nearly summer now and it’s all change! Gone are the wet, dark evenings and the seasonal hibernation – it’s time to get out, make the most of the long days and do some socialising.

Language courses are a great way to meet like-minded people, as well as learning a new skill. They provide a relaxed and informal learning environment, and students usually hit it off really well.

4. To ensure you can compete in the current employment market

The recession might officially be over, but the job market is still suffering. In times like this, it’s essential to keep yourself as skilled as possible, and foreign languages are still seen as a huge asset to your cv.

Whether you’re looking to progress within your current company or organisation, or to seek new employment, learning or revising language skills is a great idea for anyone working within an international environment, or whose role has an international element.

Cactus offers foreign language evening courses in a variety of locations across the UK and North America. For further information on prices, start dates, course content, how to book, or to test your level, please visit our our UK or US site.