CasaLingua Director and Lead Tutor

Most classes - French, Spanish and Italian - are delivered by Kim. Kim is an experienced teacher and teaches adults and children at CasaLingua Language School (Consett) as well as online. She offers one-to-one lessons for adults and has a proven record of achieving outstanding results with her GCSE and A level students.

Kim is responsible for the organisation and administration of all of the CasaLingua lessons and is also the person to which you should direct questions if you wish to become part of our tutor team.

Kim hosts in-house language themed events as well as collaborating with other businesses in the local area. If you want Kim to come to you, get in touch!

CasaLingua French and Spanish tutor

Melanie is a French native from Poitiers who has lived in the UK since 2012. She is a very busy lady, currently working at a local North-East Primary school as a teaching assistant, on a Saturday morning at ‘La Petite École’ in Newcastle as well as delivering classes at CasaLingua!

Melanie obtained her qualifications in France and has a LLCE (Langues, Litérature et Civilisation Étrangère) in Spanish and a Masters degree in Primary Teaching. She is also a Mum of 2 and is committed to raising both of her little ones as bilingual.

Melanie is our French lead at CasaLingua; she delivers French classes at a local Nursery school, offers primary tuition and also teaches three of our adult classes on a Monday (2 for French and one Spanish). You can find out all about Melanie in our recent blog post!

CasaLingua German Tutor

Anastasiia has been teaching German and English for 10 years to students from all over the world.  

After living and working in Germany as a professional interpreter at various business exhibitions in Bayern and Frankfurt, Anastasiia now loves to share these cultural experiences with her students, to enhance the learning and understanding of the language and country.

Anastasiia has been in the UK since 2017, choosing to come to the South-East to to complete her International MBA. With the picturesque views and the sea on her doorstep, the UK is now home! 

Whether you want to study German for business or just as a hobby, with Anastasiia you will enjoy fun, creative lessons! And if you are keen to learn a Slovak language? Anastasiia’s native languages are Ukranean and Russian!

Gemma Lawley, a fluent French speaker and experienced practitioner, is a valuable member of our online team.

Before training as a teacher, Gemma spent two years living in the Midi-Pyrénées, working as an assistant. These formative experiences in France fuelled her enthusiasm to share the French language and culture when she returned to the UK.

Gemma spent a decade teaching French and German (upto KS4) in a Greater London Secondary school before moving up to York. Here, she worked for the University delivering French to adult learners. Gemma teaches our online French classes and isl be our lead tutor for the GCSE French group tutorials. She has some availability for one to ones. Feedback from Gemma’s students is second to none and we value her professionalism and adaptability.

If you want to get ready for that holiday in France, why not join Gemma for a 6 week blast of Holiday French. Booking is now open!

David is a Secondary qualified MFL and Maths teacher currently working in the North-East. Kim and David worked in Secondary school together in the Italian department and they share a passion for Italy and this beautiful language!

Since starting with CasaLingua, David has taught online and face to face Italian. David currently teaches both Tuesday night classes as well as the online near beginners on a Sunday. Last year, David was responsible for our Holiday Italian course, which proved to be incredibly popular and is due to return in 2026. David is also able to teach French and Spanish and he is, of course, also able to offer GCSE Maths tuition should you ever need that!

I am delighted to be working with David and I know that many of my students will confirm that his enthusiasm is infectious! Why not find out for yourself?

Sam is a highly experienced linguist and educator who lived and worked in China for 14 years. He is fluent in Mandarin with a deep, nuanced understanding of Chinese culture.

Having spent 16 years in the ESL industry, Sam brings a wealth of international expertise to our team and will lead on our ‘English Conversation Corner’ for non-native speakers.

Samuel obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from Tianjin Foreign Studies University. He is HSK 5 certified in Chinese proficiency and holds TKT Cambridge and TEFL certifications.

His diverse background includes teaching learners of all ages, from young children to adults, and providing specialised support as an SEN Teaching Assistant.

He also has significant experience as a technical interpreter, having previously facilitated communication between visiting Chinese OEMs and local UK staff at the Nissan Envision Giga Factory.

Look out for our new adult courses and kid’s Mandarin club, all starting after Easter!

Elizabeth is a qualified Primary teacher with over 8 years of teaching experience and a passion for languages. Although born in the UK, her parents are Portuguese and she spent part of her childhood attending school in Portugal. These early experiences helped her develop a strong connection to the language and culture and she continues to use Portuguese regularly with family and friends as well as during frequent visits to Madeira.

Through her knowledge of Portuguese, Elizabeth was also able to become largely self-taught in Spanish, which further strengthened her enthusiasm for language learning. She believes that languages are the key to communication and to understanding and appreciating different cultures, something she enjoys sharing with her students.

This summer Elizabeth is delivering our first ever Portuguese course and we are confident it will be a hit. If you are holidaying in Portugal this year, book on early - you won’t want to miss it!

Leroux Brits is an experienced and passionate educator in international and UK settings and is able to offer tuition in a number of disciplines.

Leroux has taught Psychology and Sociology at KS4 and KS5 levels as well as English Literature, English Language, and EFL/ESOL from primary to university level. In addition, Leroux holds a degree in Classical Languages and can teach Latin and Classical Greek up to KS5. Proficient in Dutch, he also offers introductory courses in this language.

After earning a master's degree from the University of St Andrews, he is currently working towards a four-year research PhD in Trauma Studies. Now based in Durham, Leroux can teach online or face to face at CasaLingua.