Table of contents

Overview

Our Memorandums of Understandings (MOUs) with China, Germany, Japan, Spain and Ukraine include posting a special language advisor to Alberta.

Language advisors help:

  • support and develop language and cultural programs
  • advise teachers and schools on a variety of topics related to language and cultural programs
  • organize, plan and support professional development sessions, educational exchanges and school partnerships
  • support departmental missions between Alberta and the country they are from

Some advisors also administer language proficiency exams, such as the German Deutsches Sprachdiplom.

Language advisors

Chinese advisor

Xianqiang Liu has been the Special Language Advisor for Chinese language and culture at Alberta Education since December 2019.

Prior to his placement in Alberta, Dr. Liu was an Associate Professor at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). He received his Doctor of Literature from Peking University’s Department of Chinese Language and Literature. Dr. Liu has extensive experience in teaching Chinese as a second and/or foreign language. He worked in BLCU from 2002 to 2019. He taught Chinese in Xinjiang from 2004 to 2005, and at Georgia State University as a Hanban teacher volunteer from 2014 to 2017.

In addition to his teaching experience, Dr. Liu has also published several articles in linguistics and second language teaching research. His focus is mainly on bilingual language studies and pedagogy in Chinese as a second language.

Programs and resources

Contact the Chinese language advisor

German advisor

Andreas Meckes has been the German Special Language Advisor at Alberta Education since August 2015. He oversees German language proficiency exams (Deutsches Sprachdiplom) and supports German language programs in Western Canada. His position is co-sponsored by the Central Agency for Schools Abroad (Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen, ZfA) in Bonn, Germany.

Andreas has over 25 years of experience in teaching languages. Before moving to Canada, he was a secondary school teacher for German, French and Spanish and head of the French department in Höchstadt, Germany. Andreas also taught second languages at private schools in Toronto and worked for 6 years at the German International School in Málaga, Spain. During his stay in Spain he co-wrote the French curriculum for German schools in Spain and Portugal for grades 9 to 12.

Programs and resources.

Contact the German language advisor

Japanese advisor

Keiko Yoshikawa has been the Special Language Advisor for Japanese language and culture at Alberta Education since September 2020.

Keiko has extensive experience teaching Japanese and conducting teacher training programs in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and Japan.

Her teaching experience covers a wide range of levels from language schools to high schools and college.

Keiko co-wrote Japanese Curriculum for secondary schools (Grade 6 to 9) in Laos.  During her stay in Laos and Indonesia, Keiko co-authored Japanese textbooks for secondary school students in Laos and Indonesia. In addition to her role as a Japanese Special Language Advisor with Alberta Education (sponsored by the Japan Foundation), she also supports Japanese language education across Canada.

Programs and resources

Contact the Japanese language advisor

Spanish advisor

Miguel A. Hernáiz has been the Special Language Advisor for Spanish language and culture at Alberta Education since October 2022. Miguel has a BA in English from the University of Zaragoza and an MEd in Instructional Technology from the International University of La Rioja. Miguel has been working in the education field for the last 30 years. He has served as an ESL teacher in both Spain and the USA, and has been Department Chair, Assistant Principal and Principal. In the administration, he has served at the regional level (Department of Education, Government of La Rioja), at the national level (INTEF, Department of Education, Government of Spain), and abroad at the Education Office of the Embassy of Spain in the USA (Houston, 2005-10) as well as Slovakia (Bratislava, 2021-22).

The Spanish Special Language Advisor in Alberta, also known as Asesor Técnico in Spain, is posted to Alberta Education by the Government of Spain and is responsible for Alberta and Western Canada.

Programs and resources

Contact the Spanish language advisor

Ukrainian advisor

Nataliia Naiavko has been the Special Language Advisor for Ukrainian language and culture at Alberta Education since August 2017 and has been a second language teacher in Ukraine for over 20 years. She was a methodologist at the Town Educational Department and a teacher trainer of second language acquisition since 2007. Nataliia has previously studied at George Mason University and University of Maryland.

She was the national winner of Eurasia/South Asia Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program in 2008 and helped develop the new Ukrainian state school curriculum.

Nataliia is an ambassador of the eTwinning Plus Program and coordinates international educational and exchange projects.

Programs and resources

Contact the Ukrainian language advisor

Contact

Chinese language advisor

Connect with the Chinese language advisor:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-644-3063
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

German language advisor

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]

Japanese language advisor

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]

Spanish language advisor

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]

Ukrainian language advisor

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]

International Education Services

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

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