Meet the Geckos Team:

Julian holds a double degree in modern languages and operatic performance and a Master of Teaching in Deutsch als Fremdsprache and classroom music. He currently teaches at Luther College in Melbourne’s outer east. He is an active committee member of the Association of German Teachers of Victoria and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Julian taught with GECKOS from 2014 – 2018 and is returning in 2020 to teach the Native 4-6 class.

Sophia is from Germany and was raised bilingual german-english. She is a certified speech pathologist B.Sc. with more than two years of experience providing professional speech pathology services to patients of all ages with speech, language, voice, fluency and cognitive disorders. She worked predominantly in paediatric environments such as in kindergardens or primary schools where she practiced individualized and group therapies. Sophia joined the GECKOS Team in 2019.

Ich komme aus Deutschland wo ich Biologie studiert habe. Seit meiner Promotion in 1990 lebe ich in  Australien. Nach meiner 24-jährigen Tätigkeit and verschiedene Instituten und Universitäten, habe ich einen Master of Teaching abgeschlossen und arbeite seitdem in der Sekundarstufe als Biologielehrer. Bei GECKOS arbeite ich seit 2015 und unterrichte Sekundarstufe und Erwachsene. Ausserdem koordiniere ich das DSD Programm für GECKOS.

Hello, my name is Anila. I am the kindergarten teacher at Geckos. During the week I am working as a linguist research assistant at Melbourne University, where I am involved in early years language education. I am always trying to incorporate best practice findings to create lessons that are effective but also fun! It is important to me to create an encouraging and supportive environment for students, built on mutual respect and trust.

Janine is a native German speaker from the Berlin region. She has studied German and French as a teacher in Berlin and the Ruhr. Her expertise comprises half a year in a lycée-collège (secondary school) in France, about four years at a German Steiner School on the secondary and high school level and two years at a German Gymnasium (higher secondary school). In the latter two positions, she did not only teach the aforementioned languages but was also a class teacher. Since April 2019, she is living in Melbourne.