Meet New Teachers
Meet Arunborey Than
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Greetings readers! My name is Arunborey Than (it’s pronounced “Thhorn”), and I was born and raised in Phnom Penh. Currently, I am a teacher at ACE, and I have just started my career life as soon as I graduated. As for where I studied before I got here, I studied for a degree in Bachelor of Education at Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL) as well as another degree in computer science at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).
After my first term of teaching, I can say that I have learned so much and met so many interesting people. The school environment is so comfortable too, and not to mention the students who are very passionate about learning and are always ready to try new things. The staff are very friendly and helpful to me whenever I need help they are always available for me. I look forward to teaching here for quite some time.
Meet Auranorak Ich
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Hello! I was born and grew up in Phnom Penh. By the time this biography is being written, I am a newly-recruited teacher at ACE. When I was young, studying at ACE was one of my dreams. Likewise, it's been another ambition of becoming a teacher here at ACE since I first chose to do a bachelor's degree in TESOL at IFL.
The journey in my teaching career started from scratch. Before being able to enter ACE, one of the most privilege educational institutions in Cambodia, I had worked for various English schools and volunteered in different organizations to build up my qualification as well as my experiences. Working here at ACE, I can feel the sense of belonging, the diversity of culture, many great opportunities and of course the warm welcome from all colleagues, which can be potential catalysts for my professional development.
Teaching is my passion, and I strongly believe ACE will be an enormous platform where I can reach out to different groups of people in society. More or less, they will be influenced and to some extent contribute back to the society in the future.
Meet Kiet Brak
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Hello! My name is Kiet BRAK. I was born and raised up in Phnom Penh. In terms of academic life, I was very proactive and passionate to absorb knowledge from the courses in my institution and spread the knowledge via voluntary work and other extra curriculums like debating and public speaking. I am a graduate from Institute of Foreign Languages, Royal University of Phnom Penh.
Without the interruption and hesitation, I work as an English teacher at ACE immediately after the graduation in order to aspire to achieve my educational and occupational goals. I believe my passion and potentialities will grow in leaps and bounds in this friendly, supportive and resourceful environment, ACE. Most importantly, working here matches my self-imposed principles of learning to share in order to share to learn. It is where I can experiment and learn from my teaching as well as spread my knowledge to help the others simultaneously.
Meet Karen Kadatz-Vogel
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Hello! My name is Karen Vogel and I come from Calgary, Canada. I graduated with a B.Ed in elementary education from the University of Calgary in my home city, and M.Ed in English education from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia. In addition, I completed TESL certification at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Have fun finding these place name on a map of Canada!
I have been a teacher for many years - almost 25! I have enjoyed teaching teaching English to elementary students, high school students and adults. I have also been a high school department head and a school principal. My favourite job, so far, has been teaching English to students who are both new to Canada, and also have limited schooling backgrounds. These are students who are returning back to a classrooms after long absences because they have lived in areas of conflict and war. They are so happy and thankful to be back in school!
While I have lived and worked for much of my life in western and northern Canada, I have also lived and worked in other places in the world, such as New Zealand and the USA. I have travelled to many countries to learn about their cultures and educational systems such as India.
Coming to Cambodia has been a goal of mine; I am extremely happy and excited to be working at ACE in Phnom Penh with supportive colleagues and lovely students!
Meet Liam Pollock
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Hello!
My name is Liam Pollock. I’m from Nottingham in the UK. I have a PhD and an MSc in psychology from the University of London. I also have a CELTA English-teaching qualification. It was during my time at the University of London that I came to love teaching and decided to pursue as my full-time career.
I have previously taught English in China and the UK, as well as teaching other subjects in British universities. ACE is my first teaching job in Cambodia and I am delighted to be here. I was attracted here by the range of academic courses offered by ACE, as well as its reputation for professionalism, and for having dedicated students. I feel this is a great place to learn and grow as a teacher, surrounded by helpful colleagues and polite, inquisitive students.
Meet Srun Marnick
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Hello! My name is Marnick Srun. I was born in Phnom Penh. As of 2016, I graduated from Institute of Foreign Languages, majoring in Bachelor of Education. After graduation, I took a part-time job as a teacher of English at a private school.
For me, teaching is a fun and exciting journey. It’s not only about teaching that is in the books, but also about the down-to-earth things in life. At the same time, I can experience and learn new things from the students who come from different backgrounds. On top of that, I am so blissfully happy to take advantage of the opportunity to work for such a qualifying standard school, ACE. With the nurturing and welcoming environment along with the supportive colleagues, my passion in teaching is further fuelled. So delightful am I to be part of this awesome team that I believe will help optimize my teaching career.
Meet Pen Ratha
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Hi everyone! I am Pen Ratha. I was born and grew up in Phnom Penh. Regarding my educational background, I got a bachelor degree of Finance and Banking from Royal University of Law and Economics in 2013, and the other one is bachelor degree of Education from Institute of Foreign Languages in 2014. Back when I was still a student, I started teaching English as a part-time job since I was a year-two student at IFL. My teaching passion started there. From then, I had had 3 years teaching experience before I decided to explore China for two years.
After I came back from China, here I am at ACE continuing my passion working as an English teacher. To some other people, being a teacher can be boring as they think teachers only do the same things everyday. However, for me, there is always something new in each class or each student I meet. I get to meet different students from different backgrounds. It is interesting to interact with them and try to find new ways to teach them.
Meet Sarah Ellis
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Hello everyone! I’m from a seaside town near Liverpool in England - which is also the home of my favourite football team! I have a BA (Hons) degree in TESOL and Spanish, along with a Trinity CertTESOL teaching certificate. I would consider myself to be a relatively new teacher, having only taught for three years, but I am lucky to have experience with a wide range of ages and levels, from absolute beginners to Cambridge Advanced exam preparation.
This is my first time teaching outside Europe. I have previously taught in England, Spain and Portugal, and I definitely experienced culture shock when I first arrived in Cambodia. However, the staff and teachers at ACE Samdech Pan are super friendly and supportive, and the students are hardworking and a delight to teach. I look forward to the coming months at ACE.
Meet Socheata Phal
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Hi everyone! My name's Socheata Phal. I was born and raised in Phnom Penh. Regarding my educational background, I am a fresh graduate from the Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL), majoring in Bachelor of Education. Prior to coming to ACE, I had been a part-time teacher of English at one private school for two years. Apart from this, I had also taken part in teaching English to government officials at Ministry of Environment as voluntary work. Also, I've built quite good networks with foreigners through teaching Khmer.
Well, it has been three months for me working at ACE. The first impression was so awesome! My boss and colleagues are very supportive and considerate. I just cannot thank them enough for taking care of me. Additionally, I'm impressed with the facilities equipped in each class. They are all up-to-date and useful for classroom teaching activities. Plus, ACE offers many golden opportunities to develop our skills and techniques in teaching in a practical way. I'm really delighted to be here and am looking forward to exploring new things in order to contribute more to the society and of course ACE!
Meet Soeun Khema Vatey
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
Hello everyone! I am Soeun Khema Vatey, a fresh graduate majoring in Bachelor of Education at Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL) and a senior student majoring in International Relations at Pannasastra University of Cambodia (PUC). Personally speaking, I am a huge fan of ACE and have embarked my academic journey here since 2008.
What is more, I graduated from YL and GEP programs and I have taken a few Diploma Courses as well. From then on, I volunteered in numerous events organized by ACE and soon enough I became an ACE Student Ambassador (2015-16) while back then I was very honored to be able to work with outstanding, intelligent, and kind-hearted ACE staff and other student ambassadors.
To me, ACE is not just an English school. Instead, it is an academically and morally resourceful home in which I can feel love, friendliness, and care while studying, working, and teaching here.
Meet Sokphayouth Chheng
ACE Samdech Pan Teacher
A warm greeting to you all! I am a newly recruited teacher at Samdech Pan Campus. I was born and raised by a nuclear family in the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. I have just recently finished doing a double degree majoring in Bachelor of Education in English (B.Ed.) at the Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL) and Computer Science and Engineering at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).
In the aspect of experience, I began my teaching career as a part-time teacher of English during my junior and senior year at American Bridge International School (ABIS) where I have not only required experiences but also considerably contributed changes to the institution. Looking forward to a more exciting and new taste of life, I then decided to change my career path to be a network consultant. By working in a new profession for almost 4 months, I realized that it was not a type of my dream job.
Having seen the vacancy posted on ACE website, I wrote a letter in response to their announcement seeking for teachers of English to fulfill position at their school. That post really hooked my attention and it appeared that my academic qualifications and professional interests are desperately in line with the requirement. After some time, I was offered a job at ACE in term 3 of 2017 and it was beyond my wildest dream. Hence, now here am I writing this self-introduction as my second term (term 4 of 2017) is approaching.
I really enjoy working at ACE for its friendly working environment, strong sense of belonging, and variety of teachers with different skills and mindsets.
