LISA SNIDER
Lisa has always had a love of language. She has a Masters in Linguistics in addition to being trilingual. She has several years of teaching experience, and she especially enjoys working with the students at GEOS.

MARC NASSAU
Marc has been teaching language for ten years. He finds it to be a detail oriented vocation--one at which he is adept and happily pursues. Marc says, "Teaching students to communicate well and enjoy the benefit of language has always been a joyous priority."

DENISE URDANG
Mother, painter, linguist, traveller, language teacher and a great friend to all. Often can be found in a cafe reading and drinking her coffee. Please feel free to interrupt her; she loves interruptions.

KENSHO NISHIMURA
I was born in Yokohama, Japan, and immigrated to the United States with my family back in '85; I was able to retain fluency in my native language, because my mom is a Japanese teacher. I also work as a freelance translator of Japanese 'manga' comics. I grew up in Berkeley, California, and received my B.A. from San Francisco State; I am currently enrolled in a Master's program at Chapman University. I LOVE pandas, Mexican food, Hip Hop, Totoro, and traveling around the globe! What I like most about teaching at GEOS is the diversity of our student population, we have everyone from everywhere! Every day is exciting! See you tomorrow! Peace Kensho.

MATT MCKENNA
I was born in Boston MA. I received a degree in political science from Northeastern University. Prior to becoming a teacher, I worked for the Verizon corporation in Massachusetts and New York for 5 years. In 2004, I left the company to become a teacher. I went to China to receive my TEFL certification. After that I became a teacher in Zhuhai in China for approximately one year.

In June of 2005, I relocated to San Francisco. In San Francisco, I started working at GEOS. I like teaching because it allows me to be creative and meet a lot of different kinds of people. My philosophy in the classroom is: it should be educational but it should also be fun!

I am avid traveler. I lived in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. My other interests include chess, good movies, spy novels, and Chinese history.

JUSTIN HUGHES
My name is Justin Hughes. I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and my family history in California dates back to the Gold Rush. My main interests are music, travel, reading, writing, self expression, and adventure.

I have experience teaching English locally and internationally. In San Francisco I volunteered as a teacher’s aide working with international students in ESL classes at the City College of San Francisco.

I have also worked as an English teacher in three different cities in Thailand. Most recently, I spent over a year teaching English at American University Alumni (AUA) Language Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

I love listening to music and playing music in my free time. I play drums and piano. I have played drums and percussion for many years, and I spent two years studying the ancient art of Japanese taiko with the San Francisco Taiko Dojo.

I am currently studying classical piano. My favorite composers are Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and Beethoven. I listen to a wide variety of music including rock, metal, classical, jazz, and experimental. Some of my favorite artists are Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Kronos Quartet, Neurosis, Radiohead, Sigur Rós, Mr. Bungle, and The Who.