Leona Wellington

Leona is an author, educator, artist and actor, who earned a BA in Secondary Ed; M.Ed. (TESL) and a Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers (CIDTT) UK. She has taught ESL/EFL worldwide as well as mentored and helped teachers in North America, Costa Rica, Oman, Kazakhstan and Sweden.

She was raised in the Southwestern USA in a town of only 5000 people and says she was a 'cowgirl' who used to say, "GIT" and "JIST" until she got into theater and learned to say "GET" and "JUST"!

She earned her way through university on a full scholarship from the theater department and was only interested in pursuing her passions, art and theatre. She says she didn't have any interest whatsoever in teaching, but she grudgingly got a B.A. in secondary education with Majors in Spanish and Art.

What she did have a passion for was helping and protecting disadvantaged people because being of mixed parentage, herself, she had always felt disadvantaged and she understood how painful and difficult it was to grow up in a place where her Hispanic heritage on her mother's side was labeled and looked down on. She knew that some of the brightest and most talented students are disadvantaged.

When she moved to a jungle town in Sarapiqui, Costa Rica she began teaching English in the village of La Virgen. She found a new passion in mentoring and helping the villagers. Here she produced plays, student exchanges and did work for children as risk. She also researched and discovered some of the core roots of English which she uses in her programs. She had huge success in teaching English to many of the villagers. Additionally, to make a living, she ran a small tourist lodge where she also produced and designed jewelry, crafts and stained glass windows.

After she got her M.Ed (TESL) and began teaching at university level, she realized how urgent it is to protect English, the lingua franca, because English it is a means of worldwide communication. Leona believes the planet urgently needs help from people who can communicate accurately and efficiently in one common language.

She also developed a huge interest in linguistics and further developed her program and techniques for helping teachers teach English more effectively worldwide.

She feels it is very important to utilize engaging, fun, personalized student centered methods as opposed to explanations and she highly recommends using right brain activities for helping students acquire languages. Her focus is on personalization and motivation which she feels are the keys to sustained learning of any kind. She offers advice, blogs and free resources through her webpage: www.leonawellington.com