Committee 2021

Andrea Vogt-Nas, Chair (until 12/21)

After having completed her university degree in German and English at Freiburg i.Br., which included 6 months of research and assistant work at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen (NL), Andrea moved to the UK. There she worked as lecturer and examiner for German as a foreign language.Andrea taught at several institutions (Manchester Business School, University of Salford and others) and companies in the NW of England. After some years she returned to Germany, where she mainly focused on teaching Efl. Her priority have been courses in adult education at different schools and companies. Furthermore, she has worked with children and teenagers. After 23 years of teaching experience, Andrea joined ELTAS to meet fellow teachers and exchange ideas. She has found ELTAS very supportive and welcoming and would like to pass this experience on. Good networking is very enhancing on both personal and occupational grounds.

Michelle  Kremser,Chair (as of 12/21) & Social Media

Deputy Chair (until 12/21)

Michelle did her BA in Spanish in Chicago before moving to Seville, Spain, where she lived for 13 years working for 6 as a medical research translator for international publications. After doing a postgraduate certification in Translation at the University of Seville in 2006, Michelle turned her sights to teaching. She taught in private schools and did an intern scholarship in Teaching, while completing her master’s degree in secondary education English language teaching, also at the University of Seville in 2010.  Michelle has been a self-employed teacher in private companies in Germany since 2014, as well as at the VHS in Ludwigsburg. Her specialties include business, technical and medical English. She currently teaches and translates in several multinational companies in the Stuttgart area.  Michelle became interested in ELTAS to maintain her own professional development, and to share experience and knowledge within the teaching community.

Ingrid Abele, Treasurer & Membership Secretary (until 7/2021)
Ingrid is an experienced trainer working mainly in companies, at universities and for municipal administrations. In addition, she is also an oral examiner for the Cambridge Certificates. For this reason she has the necessary insider knowledge to prepare her students efficiently for the different exam suites. She is a so-called near-native speaker and finds it extremely important to maintain and improve her language and teaching skills. Being an active member of ELTAS has helped her to meet these targets. As treasurer and membership secretary, she takes care of all financial transactions and administrates the membership files.

Koi Burkhart, Treasurer & Membership Secretary (as of 7/21) Events catering

 Koi Burkart comes from Kenya and has a Bsc & an Msc in Agricultural Economics from University of Kentucky in Lexington, USA. Koi teaches at companies and schools.  Koi has taken on the role of Treasurer this year and also supports the Events Team.  She enjoys regularly attending Eltas workshops and networking with ELTAS members.

Karin Scheffold-Mokler, Events Manager. Deputy Chair (as of 12/21)

Karin Scheffold-Mokler studied English and German at the University of Tübingen. She works as a translator and English teacher for industrial companies and teaches at the VHS Ludwigsburg. Having worked in an export department for many years, Karin is specialized in commercial and technical English (French and Spanish). She enjoys being a member of Eltas and the committee because of the high competence of all its members as well as the exchange of information in the workshops/lectures – and last but not least because of the friendly atmosphere at Eltas.

Vera Tillner, Secretary & Social Media

Vera Tillner is a certified translator and a passionate teacher of English and German. She grew up in Germany and lived and worked in Malta, Great Britain and Italy for 7 years before settling down near Esslingen. She works as a freelance language trainer – both online and face-to-face. Vera recently certified as a Neurolanguage Coach© and focuses on brain-friendly teaching methods. As a newly elected committee member, she supports the ELTAS social media team and is looking forward to the upcoming workshops which for her are a great way of learning, networking and sharing expertise with fellow trainers.

Rebecca Harrison-Sprengel, Events & Feature Articles (until 6/21)

A British national from London, Rebecca has lived and worked in many countries for over 30 years. She now works mainly as a personal language, communication and cross-cultural coach for top-management and multi-national teams. She is also an author and presenter. Rebecca has a B.Sc. in psychology and adult education and a B.A. in applied modern languages from the Sorbonne, Paris. She also has a Post Graduate Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring Practice from Oxford Brookes University. Totally tri-lingual – English, French and German – she combines academic and business achievements with pragmatic hands-on experience. Rebecca was on the ELTAS committee in the 90ies, BESIG chair for 3 years and spent several years on the EMCC Board (European Mentoring and Coaching Council). Learning, networking and sharing expertise are just some of the reasons why she joined the committee.

Nicole Heusser, Blog, Design
(until 10/21)

Nicole studied English language and literature at the Open University. Thanks to the flexibility of distance learning, she was able to start her degree in her native Switzerland, but then decided to move to Edinburgh UK for 3.5 years.  There she worked to finance her degree, both in a busy call centre and as a self-employed web designer.In 2010, Nicole moved to Germany to be with her partner, where she now is a freelance English teacher, teaching one-to-one lessons locally or online. She also works as a translator for various businesses and creates ELT and EFL resources. Being self-employed, it can sometimes be a challenge to network and exchange ideas with other teachers. That’s why she joined ELTAS in 2014 and has never looked back! Nicole joined the committee in 2019 because she felt it was time to give something back to the association that has helped her so much in her development as an English teacher.

Andy Yarahmadi, Advertising Manager

Andy was born in Brooklyn, NYC – USA from a Persian father and a Canadian/ American mom. He graduated from the City University of New York ( CUNY ) in Linguistics and Language Teaching. After working as a language teacher and cultural facilitator at the New York Intercultural Center, he decided it was time for a change and applied for the Masters program at the University of Stuttgart. He is also enjoying teaching business English at various companies and universities in the Stuttgart area. Teamwork and constant support of one another is what ties Andy to Eltas. He simply believes in the saying “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” He hopes to be a small flint which together with Eltas makes a huge blast in aiding teachers to be more conscientious in the field.

Frances Böttinger, Webmaster

Originally from the U.S., Frances studied business management and worked in various capacities at several international companies. She ventured into freelance English language training “for fun”  in 2001 and ended up with a CELTA and MA in Language Education. A long-time member of Eltas, she has found the workshops and networking at Eltas invaluable in staying abreast of new developments in  English language teaching. Tackling the role of webmaster is helping her give back something to an organization that has played a big role in keeping her personally and professionally motivated.