International language advisors

Coming soon.

Programs and resources

• Confucius Institute in Edmonton
• Chinese language learning brochure

Contact the Chinese language advisor

Irene Mrazek is the German Special Language Advisor at Alberta Education and Childcare. She oversees German language proficiency exams (Deutsches Sprachdiplom) and supports German language programs in Western Canada. Her position is co-sponsored by the Central Agency for Schools Abroad (Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen, ZfA) in Bonn, Germany.

Irene has over 35 years of experience in teaching languages. She comes from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany where she also worked as a teacher of German and English at a high school in Wuppertal and supervised education students completing their teaching practicums through the Bergische University. Her last posting as a German Advisor was to Denver, Colorado where she had responsibility for 5 of the Midwest states and supported over 100 schools, their teachers and students.

Programs and resources

• Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen (ZfA)
• PASCH – Iniciative
• German language learning brochure

Contact the German language advisor

Tatsuya Nakagome is the Japanese Special Language Advisor posted by the Japan Foundation to Alberta Education and Childcare. He received an M.Ed. T.E.F.L/T.ES.L from the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom. Prior to his placement in Alberta, Tatsuya has worked for over 35 years as a lecturer as well as an advisor in Japan, Malaysia, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines and the United Kingdom. In England he worked together with teachers to promote Japanese language education for primary: Ready Steady Nihon Go.

Over the last 7 years, he has worked for a program called “Nihongo partners” which dispatches Japanese citizens as NIHONGO Partners mainly to secondary schools in Asia. Tatsuya’s area of interest is visualization, of and within, language and culture studies.

Programs and resources

• Japan Foundation - Toronto
• Teacher training programs in Canada
• Teacher training programs in Japan
• Japan Foundation Japanese e-Learning Minato
• Marugoto Plus Japanese learning
• Irodori Japanese for Life in Japan
• Nihongo Portal for Learning Japanese
• Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)
• Japanese language learning brochure

Contact the Japanese language advisor

Maria Martin Gutierrez is the Spanish Special Language Advisor posted to Alberta Education and Childcare by the Government of Spain. Maria supports Spanish language programs in Alberta and Western Canada.

With over 20 years of teaching experience, Maria brings a deep passion for international education, language programming and innovative teaching methodologies. At her previous school in Spain, she led the bilingual program for seven years and developed a comprehensive understanding of the learning opportunities as well as the benefits that bilingual programs offer to students and their families. Maria also coordinated the European Erasmus program for two years, which involved organizing both short and long term international mobilities for students and teachers.

Spanish Language Resource Centre

• The North American Language and Culture Assistants Program
• RedELE
• Instituto Cervantes
• DELE examinations
• Todoele.net
• Education Office at the Embassy of Spain to Canada
• Spanish language learning brochure

Contact the Spanish language advisor

Nataliia Naiavko has been serving as the Special Language Advisor for Ukrainian Language and Culture at Alberta Education and Childcare since August 2017. She has over two decades of experience in the field of second language teaching in Ukraine, where she worked both as a classroom teacher and as a methodologist at the Town Educational Department. She has also been engaged as a teacher trainer and educator in second language acquisition, supporting professional development for language educators.

Nataliia pursued further academic training at George Mason University and the University of Maryland. In 2008, she was recognized as the national winner of the Eurasia/South Asia Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (Fulbright Program). She also contributed to the development of the New Ukrainian State School (NUS) curriculum, advancing educational reforms in Ukraine.

Programs and resources

• Ukrainian National Multi-Subject Test (NMT) 2025 (English)
• Ukrainian National Multi-Subject Test (NMT) 2025 (Ukrainian)
• Ukrainian Language Education Centre (ULEC)
• Ukrainian language learning brochure
• Supporting Displaced Ukrainian Students and their Families

Contact the Ukrainian language advisor

Connect with the Chinese language advisor:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-427-2035
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

Connect with the German language advisor:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-422-0536
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

Connect with the Japanese language advisor:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-415-6165
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

Connect with the Spanish language advisor:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-422-0664
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

Connect with the Ukrainian language advisor:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-422-3245
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

Connect with the International Education Services:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-427-2035
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

Address:
Main Floor, 44 Capital Boulevard
10044 108 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 5E6