The onlyConnect Team

Manuela Graves – Founder and Company Director

Manuela Graves has spent 28 years in Granada working bilingually within both the Spanish- and English-speaking communities. With a degree in Anthropology and Islamic History and qualified in TEFL in 1981, she has taught English extensively and in the last few years specialised in training professional people who need English for their work in the technical and business sectors. Her other field of expertise is as an interpreter with foreign residents. She has a solid working knowledge of administrative and legal Spanish gained through years of translating and mediating with notaries, lawyers and and government officials. She set up onlyConnect Language and Consultancy Services in 2004, bringing together a multilingual team of teachers, translators and editors to create a communication nexus for the language needs of both Spanish and English clients here in Granada.

Kate Babb – Managing Director

Kate Babb is Managing Director of onlyConnect Language Services. After arriving in Spain 19 years ago as a student she became a freelance English teacher. However she was soon offered a position as a bilingual secretary and technical translator for a national electronics firm based in Seville, where she worked for seven years. Since moving to Granada 12 years ago Kate has broadened her skills via various training courses in the areas of marketing, management and human resources. After several years as a freelance technical translator she joined forces with Manuela Graves to set up onlyConnect Language Services in 2004. Currently responsible for the administration of the company, Kate also coordinates marketing and customer care services.

Laurie Price – ESL Teacher/Translator/Proof Reader

Laurie Price is a language arts professional with years of experience as an editor, proofreader, translator and ESL instructor for various business and education sectors. Her ESL teaching style is inductive, incorporating grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation into spirited conversation targeted to the student’s level and interests. She translates from Spanish into American English and understands the importance of rendering the author’s ideas, concepts and style into clear, correct English. For editorial work she specializes in ESL/EFL editing: correcting documents written and/or translated by non-native English speakers so that they are error-free. She also taught proofreading for several years in New York City for an employment skills acquisition program.

Michael O’Shea – ESL Teacher/Proof Reader

Michael O’Shea, a graduate of University College Dublin in Political Science and Economics and Education with a postgraduate diploma in Development Studies from the University of North London and an International House Certificate in TEFL, has worked in Ireland as a secondary school teacher, as a French and English teacher for business executives and third level students, and as a proofreader/writer for a multinational educational publisher. He has worked in France as a general and business English teacher for Paris-based companies with an international presence, as a translator with the Paris stock exchange, and also founded and edited a bilingual journal in Paris. He has worked as an English language teacher in Egypt and Algeria in language schools and third-level colleges and is currently working in Granada as a general, business, and academic English trainer, proofreader, and translator.

Oliver Terrill – ESL Teacher

Oliver Terrill is from the small coastal town of Margaret River in far South Western Australia but moved to Perth to study Exercise Physiology and Human Movement, gaining a degree in Bachelor of Exercise and Health Science and a post grad diploma in exercise rehabilitation science. Oliver worked for three years as an exercise physiologist, personal trainer and health and lifestyle counsellor before  managing a health and exercise program at a remote mine site in Western Australia. He then decided to learn Spanish and Flamenco guitar and with that intention travelled around Spain and South America where he began teaching English in Peru. Oliver completed an online TEFL course, and his style of teaching focuses much less on grammar rules but more on audio lingual skills and lexical-based learning. Oliver also worked several summers as a surf coach in Cantabria.

Elisabet Cendra i Yun – Spanish/ESL Teacher

Elisabet Cendra i Yun is a teacher of Spanish and English, translator and proofreader with vast experience. She has also worked in the tourist trade for many years. Her approach to teaching follows the Task-Based Language Learning method (TBLL), allowing students to cooperate and communicate in a vivid and meaningful way, taking into account their own personalities, interests and needs. She has done literal translations and proofreading for various businesses and simultaneous translation working between English and Spanish in conferences for university, business and dance classes. She has translated websites from English to Spanish and worked as a tour host for English-speaking tourists in Andalucía.

Gillian Homeri – Consultant/Trainer

Gillian Homeri is a management consultant and trainer. With over 12 years of experience in international Human Resources Management with the British Council, Gillian has trained and coached groups and individuals across the globe from Colombia to Japan. Communication skills training, performance management, customer care and recruitment and selection skills are her particular areas of interest. Gillian speaks 5 languages, has a postgraduate qualification in education, a CIPD Certificate in Training Practice and a Diploma in NLP. She is also a qualified psychometric assessor and a member of the British Psychological Society.

RizgarHomeri – Translator/Interpreter

Rizgar Homeri is an experienced translator, interpreter and counsellor. He speaks Kurdish, Arabic and English to native speaker level and he also speaks Spanish. Rizgar has worked extensively with refugees, and has provided translation and interpretation services for the social services, police and immigration services. He specialises in translating technical documents. He is also skilled and experienced in providing IT support and training for small businesses. Rizgar has a degree in engineering, an MSc in ergonomics, A CIPD certificate in training practice, a counselling diploma and a diploma in NLP.