Claire FIRAT
Director of Studies

Helloooo! My name is Claire Firat. I am the Director of Studies at BROWNS. I am passionate about language learning, passionate about providing the highest quality of teaching and passionate about students becoming passionate about languages!

It all began when I was eight. My parents, returning from a holiday in France, presented me with a tee-shirt with a picture of Snoopy on it. Next to his head was a speech bubble with writing in it but alas... it was in French. I was so curious that I begged my parents to let me learn French. Eight years later, I spent a year as an exchange student in France before returning to Australia to commence my university studies.

I completed a Bachelor of Arts in Politics at the Australian National University in Canberra and then moved to Melbourne to work as a Production Manager. Four years later, I moved to London for work. A year later, itching to feel foreign, I moved to a small village in Turkey and began teaching English. So much did I love my new job that I returned to Australia to study language teaching and, upon graduation, flew back to the Turkish capital of Ankara to continue teaching. Several years later, I moved back to Brisbane, Australia with my Turkish husband to undertake further study (all learning is good learning!). We worked in Brisbane until travel lust lured us to Qingdao, China. I worked as a Director of Studies and my husband designed animations for the Olympics. We are now happily living in the blue-skied, sunbathed landscape of the Gold Coast.

I speak French, Turkish, some Chinese and now plan to conquer Spanish. My friends say that I am very impatient. I don't like waiting at bus stops. I don't like when people are late. So, as the world's most impatient person, I also understand your impatience to learn and start using English from your first lesson.

We have recently improved the courses on offer at BROWNS so that you can see and understand your learning outcomes for every hour that you spend studying in our classes. We also ensure we have classes that focus on the different skills and systems that make up the English language so that you receive a well-rounded English education that responds to your individual needs.

Whether you are here for 2 weeks or 52 weeks, my job is to help you track your progress. In our regular academic counselling chats, together we will map out your goals for English learning and create pathways to attaining them. If you have plans to do further study in Australia, we can help you there too. We work with universities, TAFES and colleges around Australia so that you can directly enrol into their courses once you have reached your English goals here with us.

I look forward to meeting you here at BROWNS and helping you achieve your language goals!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009
9:44:01 PM