Our experienced team of native speakers bring a wide range of significant academic skills, professional competencies as well as fundamental skills to their roles, and they hold university degrees in the humanities and sciences from British, American, New Zealand and Austrian universities.
The IBC Native Speakers
Nessa Dertnig
Nessa was born in Southern Illinois (USA) and spent much of her childhood there. In the early 2000s, between working as a nanny in Switzerland, teaching English in France, and traveling in Costa Rica, she completed a bachelor’s degree in French Language & Literature. In 2005 she got married and pursued her interests in organic farming, non-violent communication, collaborative working and living, and meeting facilitation while raising their two children full-time. She earned a CELTA teaching qualification in 2015 and is currently completing a master’s degree in Cross-Cultural Communication & Education through Newcastle University (England). Nessa joined the Native Speaker team in 2021 and helps out in biology, geography, and PE classes. She really enjoys the collaborative aspect of this kind of teaching and loves helping the children learn. When she is not teaching you may find her working on her family’s small organic farm in Möllbrücke.
Andrea Foster
Andrea was born and educated in the north of England, near York. She has an honours degree in Business Studies from the University of Sheffield and a TEFL qualification. She has lived in Austria for the past twenty years and joined the team of Native Speakers in St Martin in December 2012. You can find her in the English, History, Geography, Art and Music lessons. Andrea also offers a ´Games and Roleplay´ conversation course that is available to students in the 1st year of the bilingual programme. They spend the lessons playing various English games and chatting about topics that interest them, in English of course!
Jane Nitsche:
Jane, a native of the USA has been at BG/BRG St. Martin for about 15 years. In that time, she has assisted in many different subjects including English, Advanced English (preparation for the Cambridge Advanced English exam), Geography, History and Music. She has a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. (law) degree from Rutgers University. She is proud of the success we have had in helping the students reach almost native speaker level by graduation. She has attributed the success of our program to experience, dedication and, most importantly, teamwork. The best part of coming to work every day, though, is the students. They keep us young and informed about the modern world as well as being and unending source of laughter.
Jitske Kretz:
Jitske was born in the Netherlands, and grew up in New Zealand. She studied Chemical and Process Engineering at Canterbury University. In the final year of her Bachelor’s degree, she attended Purdue University in Indiana, USA as a Study Abroad student. After graduation she moved to the Silicon Valley in California and worked for a semiconductor equipment manufacturer, first as a Customer Process Engineer and then in Technical Marketing. After the birth of her two daughters, she became a full-time mother. She moved with her family to Villach in 2010, initially on an Expat contract, however they really enjoyed living here so switched to a local contract in 2012. Jitske joined the Native Speakers Team in 2022. In addition to supporting the bilingual classes in Biology, Informatik and Chemistry, Jitske provides English tutoring services to refugees through the PIVA organisation in Villach
Patricia Rio Branco:
Patricia was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but moved to South Africa with her family at a young age. Since then she has been fortunate to live in other countries including France, Belgium, Mozambique and Austria. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in English and French Literature from the University of Cape Town and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Kent, she spent a number of years working in a variety of roles for different NGOs, consultancies and diplomatic missions based in Brussels, Nampula (Mozambique), and London, amongst others. Her teaching journey gained momentum when she took on a job as Native Speaker at a small private school in Carinthia in 2017. She eventually went on to gain a formal teaching qualification (PGCE) in 2019. Patricia joined the Native Speakers team at St Martin in 2022 where she provides support mainly in the Biology, Physics, Geography and History lessons. She also offers “Fun with English” conversation lessons to second-year students.
Lisa Wagner-Calnan:
Lisa was born in Cardiff, Wales, where she grew up, gaining a scholarship to a private girls’ school. At the age of 18 she decided to up sticks and move to Graz, Austria. She was an au-pair for a few years before returning to education and studying translation studies at the Karl-Franzens-Universität in Graz. She attained her Mag. Phil. In Translation Studies (Ger., Engl., It.) in 2004, before which she set up her own translation company. She has two children and lives in Villach with her Austrian husband, who she met when she was studying in Graz. She joined the team at St. Martin in 2017 and absolutely LOVES working alongside many fantastic teachers and highly-motivated children as well as assisting in a wide variety of subjects in the school. Lisa also offers a ´Let´s do Drama´ and ´Let´s do more Drama´ conversation courses that are offered in the 3rd and 4th years of the Bilingual Programme respectively.
