Native Speaker Teachers

Daniel Smith, B.F.A.

„What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.“
Henry David Thoreau

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania in the United States. When I was 19 I moved to New York City to pursue music.  I lived in New York City for 4 years and then I left to study Film and Creative Writing at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After finishing my Bachelor of Fine Arts, I moved back to New York City and lived there until 2003. I worked as a copy writer for a media advertising company. I wrote a lot of internet and commercial content for clients such as Armani, Ford, ZDF, Arte and many others. I also played a lot of concerts and was deeply involved in the New York music scene. 
Somewhere around 2002, I wanted a new challenge and a friend from our German office recommended me for a Business English teaching position in Vienna at Generali Insurance. I moved to Vienna in 2003. I trained management in business English at Generali, Siemens, Philips and some smaller companies located in Vienna. Eventually I married an Austrian and before our first daughter was born, I wanted something with more fixed hours so I took a salaried position at the Austrian Unemployment office (AMS) to teach Business English. I worked there for 5 years and during that period our second daughter was born.  After that I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to work here at Junior High School Carlbergergasse and honestly I have never looked back. It’s the best and most fulfilling position I have ever held. 
 I really love my work as a Native Speaker Teacher in the Global Studies department here at the Junior High School. It has completed a path of knowledge that I have been walking on for a long time. I relish the chance to help guide and teach the children that will be our future and in teaching I have easily learned just as much as I have taught.

Peter Symonds, BA

I am originally from England and have a degree in automotive design and engineering and a background in boat design and manufacture. I have been in Austria since 2007 and speak a number of European languages.
Being the native speaker means that I have classes in the sciences and really enjoy teaching those classes how to be curious about physics, biology and chemistry and how to ask and answer questions in a scientific manner. Having a design and engineering education myself lets me build up the students to be enthusiastic about the sciences.
Demonstrations and experiments are at the core of students science lessons and I am passionate for them to learn how to prove a scientific theory by testing it for themselves.
Social studies is also a great opportunity for the students to learn how to analyse history and to study geography through the medium of English and I am continually amazed by the very high standards of English the students reach every year.
The Cambridge course is something my colleagues and I are proud of as we continue to produce successful students each year with a well recognised and meaningful qualification.

Jennifer Sinclair, BA MA

I am from New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States. I studied at the University of New Mexico. I hold a BA in Anthropology, a BA in Classical Studies, and an MA in Secondary Education. I taught history and English in a middle school in New Mexico. I have lived in Austria since 2017. 

I enjoy studying and teaching history because I think it is one of the best ways we can prepare ourselves, and younger generations, for the future. I like to think of science as a curiosity voyage, I hope to help instill this sense of wonder into my students. Our students have a great opportunity to develop their English language skills by studying both of these subjects in English. It is wonderful to help them discover the world through history and science in my mother tongue.

My goal as a teacher is to give students a good understanding of historical events and scientific concepts, so that they understand how these things have shaped the modern world. More importantly, I want students to be able to use this information to help create a better future. I aim to bring the world into the classroom and the classroom into the world.