Our Teachers
Cory Thomas
Founder & Head TeacherCory is the founder of Yak English and a CELTA-certified teacher with 10 years of experience teaching English. He has worked with students from Japan, Brazil, France, South Korea, and many other countries, both online and in classrooms across South Korea, Canada, and the UK. He focuses on helping learners build confidence and communicate naturally in real-world English. His philosophy is to make English natural, fun, and incorporate pop culture into the class to better demonstrate how English is actually used.
Buket Çiçek
Bilingual English Teacher (English / Turkish)Buket is a bilingual English teacher and IELTS professional based in Canada, with a degree in English Language Teaching from Yeditepe University. She learned English independently in Türkiye, developing a natural approach to language learning that focuses on real communication rather than memorisation. She specialises in helping Turkish learners overcome the “I know it but can’t speak it” barrier by building fluency, confidence, and automatic speaking skills. Her lessons focus on turning English from something studied into something used naturally in real life.
Buket, Kanada’da yaşayan iki dilli bir İngilizce öğretmeni ve IELTS uzmanıdır ve Yeditepe Üniversitesi İngilizce Öğretmenliği bölümünden mezun olmuştur. İngilizceyi Türkiye’de kendi başına öğrenmiş, ezberden ziyade gerçek iletişime odaklanan doğal bir dil öğrenme yaklaşımı geliştirmiştir. Özellikle Türk öğrencilerin “anlıyorum ama konuşamıyorum” sorununu aşmalarına yardımcı olma konusunda uzmandır; akıcılık, özgüven ve otomatik konuşma becerilerini geliştirmeye odaklanır. Dersleri, İngilizceyi sadece öğrenilen bir şey olmaktan çıkarıp günlük hayatta doğal şekilde kullanılan bir beceriye dönüştürmeyi hedefler.
Carmen Palomo
Bilingual English Teacher (English / Spanish)
Carmen is an English teacher specialized in practical communication and exam preparation. Certified by Cambridge and TOEFL, she has experience teaching learners of all ages, from young children to adults, as well as preparing students for official Cambridge and IELTS examinations. She believes that everyone can communicate confidently in English when they are given the right guidance and support. Her teaching approach focuses on making English enjoyable, practical, and meaningful, helping students see it not as a subject to memorise, but as a powerful tool to connect with people, discover new cultures, and open new opportunities. Her lessons are designed to build confidence, develop real-life communication skills, and help every student achieve their personal and academic goals at their own
Carmen es profesora de inglés especializada en comunicación práctica y preparación de exámenes. Cuenta con certificaciones de Cambridge y TOEFL, y posee experiencia enseñando a alumnos de todas las edades —desde niños pequeños hasta adultos—, así como preparando a estudiantes para los exámenes oficiales de Cambridge e IELTS.
Está convencida de que cualquier persona puede comunicarse con confianza en inglés si recibe la orientación y el apoyo adecuados. Su enfoque pedagógico busca hacer del inglés una experiencia amena, práctica y significativa, ayudando a los alumnos a percibirlo no como una asignatura que memorizar, sino como una poderosa herramienta para conectar con personas, descubrir nuevas culturas y abrirse a nuevas oportunidades.
Sus clases están diseñadas para fomentar la confianza, desarrollar habilidades comunicativas para la vida real y ayudar a cada estudiante a alcanzar sus objetivos personales y académicos a su propio ritmo.