英語講師陣

Neil DeMaere is the manager of the Instructor Administration Department. Originally from Canada, Neil worked in the IT and telecom industries before completing an honours degree in economics. During his final two years at university, he had the opportunity to tutor first- and second-year students. This experience, in addition to his on-campus jobs in the Economics Department library and Computing User Services Department prompted him to make a career change from sales into education. Neil has been teaching in Japan since 2004, receiving in-service CELTA and DELTA (Module 1) qualifications. In addition to his management responsibilities and teaching duties, primarily at the post-secondary level, he also participates actively in teacher training and program development.

Anthony Gibson is an ELEC manager and an experienced language instructor from Canberra, Australia. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business and obtained a master’s degree in applied linguistics. Originally a project manager for a Japanese-based company in Australia, Anthony came to Japan on a working holiday through the Australian Japanese working holiday program with a plan to stay for 12 months. During this time, he discovered the rewarding nature of being an educator and decided to extend his stay. Throughout Anthony’s instructor career, he has taught a wide variety of language courses and institutions including private language schools, the Japanese public school system, universities, and local government initiatives. He has conducted numerous teacher trainings around Japan and is a founding member and senior manager of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Tokyo Global Gateway project opened in September 2018. Anthony continues to enjoy being part of his local community and all that his adopted home, Japan, continues to offer.

“Teaching English as a Second Language is not just about language: it’s about bridging cultures and encouraging understanding.”

Jeffrey is an instructor from the U.S., and has a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a double minor in Business Administration and Japanese Studies. He received his CELTA in 2017. He started studying Japanese language and culture in university, and wanted to experience the culture and teaching English in Japan, so has lived here since 2001. He first joined ELEC in 2008 as a part-time instructor and later joined as a full-time instructor.

Andrew is an Instructor from Brisbane, Australia. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts (Journalism) and a Masters Degree in Applied Linguistics (TESOL). As part of his Master’s Degree he conducted a research project that investigated linguistic identity and how it affects TESOL teaching in Japan. Andrew initially intended to come to Japan for one year but found that he enjoyed the culture and lifestyle too much to leave. Andrew has been teaching with ELEC since 2020 at a number of institutions in the Kanto region. He has an interest in many areas of linguistics, especially sociolinguistics and syntactic variation among languages.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma Gandhi

Paul comes from a small village outside of Cambridge, England. He went to university in London, and majored in Sociology. Paul became a Sociology lecturer at a local college, teaching courses up to and including degree level. Seeking adventure, he moved to Japan at the age of 30. He worked for several years at a large English conversation school and then took a job as a teacher and materials editor at a school that specialized in TOEIC.  Whilst there, he co-authored a number of best-selling (in the Amazon Japan TOEIC speaking and writing charts) books. After a brief period teaching both corporate and university classes, Paul found employment with ELEC and he is now our Materials Coordinator. Paul lives with his wife and daughter in Saitama. He enjoys drinking tea, collecting vinyl, reading, urban exploring and relaxing in city parks.

Kevin joined ELEC as an instructor in 2017. He is from Toronto, Canada, where he attended university and graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Zoology, with a focus on evolutionary biology and entomology. He also studied physical and cultural anthropology. He received a certificate in TESL, and acquired TESL Ontario and TESL Canada certification in 2003. Having had an interest in science and nature, he wanted to explore these aspects in Japan.

“In the journey to reach a goal, the journey is often more important than the goal itself.”

Alexander is Assistant Manager of the Instructor Administration Department. Hailing from the U.K., he received a BA (Hons) in Anthropology with Spanish, and later received his CELTA from Chiang Mai in 2018. After having learnt fluent Spanish and exploring several Spanish-speaking countries, he decided he wanted to experience a different language and culture. He had had an interest in Japan since childhood, so it was his number one choice. He first joined ELEC as a part-time instructor in 2014. His main pedagogical field of interest is phonology.

Pac previously worked at ELEC from 2015 to 2018. After returning to Thailand to teach, he rejoined ELEC as of 2024. Born and raised in the US state of Texas, he received his BA in both History and Asian Studies in 2024. After that, he went on to obtain a law degree in 2009. In 2010, Pac obtained his CELTA in Bangkok, Thailand where he began his English-language teaching career shortly thereafter. Since then, he has been teaching English in various contexts both in Thailand and Japan. As of 2020 Pac has obtained an MA in TESOL w/ Applied Linguistics. His main area of research interest is bilingual education.

“It is fascinating that we can express our thoughts and feelings through languages, music and art , and it makes our lives so rich and meaningful.”

Hailing from Russia, Allita graduated from St. Petersburg State University in Russia, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in philology and linguistics, specialising in English Language and Literature. In 2007, she started a PhD course in “Germanic Languages”. After graduating, she became an associate professor teaching students English at the mathematical faculties for 7 years.

Her main passion since childhood has been languages. Besides English, she has also studied German, Spanish, French and Latin, and is now trying her best to master Japanese.  Her other passions are music and art. She enjoys classical music and used to attend the music school I.F. Stravinsky (named after the great Russian composer), where she learned to play the piano. Being from St. Petersburg, the cultural capital of Russia, she likes to frequent museums and art galleries.