Charles Goodger

Born in London the founder of FunSongs Education speaks six languages and plays three musical instruments. He has a modern languages degree from London University and an IH TEFL teacher training certificate. Charles has indefinite tenure as a Collaboratore Esperto Linguistico at  Bologna University in Italy from where he has taken several years unpaid leave to dedicate himself to developing FunSongs in different countries. He lives with his Italian wife and eleven-year-old son in Riga, Latvia. Charles Goodger is an English teacher, text-book writer (his course books include World Friends and the bestseller The Language of Travel, Mondadori) and teacher trainer. Charles is also a pianist, guitarist and songwriter. You can find out more about how he put together his interests in music and language learning by reading Chapter One of  the free PDF book Music and Mime, Rhythm and Rhyme. Since establishing FunSongs, Charles has been a plenary speaker at international ELT conferences, and held workshops and seminars in China, India, Lithuania, Russia, Latvia, France, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Spain and England. "I'm glad I studied languages. Being able to communicate in different languages makes relations with people so much richer and less superficial. Of course in this globalising 21st century a good grounding in lingua franca English is part of the new literacy but that doesn't mean English mother-tongue people can just assume they can get by on English alone. Learning a foreign language well proves you respect others' cultures and identities and can foster harmony."

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Emelie Loeb 

Emelie comes to FunSongs from California where she taught inner city children ESL and discovered her passion for teaching language. No stranger to theatre and music, Emelie quickly recognized the effectiveness of creative and expressive skills in helping young learners to develop language.  She began performing FunSongs bilingual puppet shows in 2006 and together with Charles Goodger, launched the first FunSongs English Week summer camp in Italy that year. Emelie is a founding member  of CAIL, the Cultural Association for Interactive Learning which she set up with Valentina D’Errico and Charles in Bologna in 2008. A dynamic and active teacher trainer, she has travelled extensively in Italy and Europe to demonstrate the FunSongs Method. 

Valentina D'Errico

Valentina D'Errico is a founding member of CAIL, the educational organization that has the exclusive use of the FunSongs Method and FunSongs Shows in Italy. Valentina has a degree in dramatic arts from Bologna University and her university thesis included an in-depth analysis of the FunSongs Method after she studied under Charles Goodger at the CILTA language centre at Bologna University. Originally from Puglia in Italy, Valentina has travelled and studied in the UK and the USA where she looked after and taught young children. 

Stephanie Laake

Stephanie Laake is originally from Germany and has worked with children in pre-schools in Riga, Latvia since 2006. Fluent in English, she founded FunSongs Sia Latvia with Charles Goodger in June 2010 after attending a teacher training course held by Charles and organized by the Latvian Ministry of Education. Steffi has two young sons both of whom have benefitted from the FunSongs Method. She is responsible for handling FunSongs registrations and runnning FunSongs Latvia - you will get an email from her when you register with the FunSongs Education website.

 

Martin Offermann

Martin is a highly skilled software developer specialising in iOS apps for educational purposes. He is interested in M-Learning - learning through digital devices. He has teamed up with FunSongs to develop the first FunSongs Education iPad app based on the action song Time to Play. The idea is to provide an engaging, interactive learning platform for kids that combine the language-learning song with word games and art and music-related activities. Fluent in English and German, Martin is also a talented keyboard player.