About us

Alex and Carmen are highly qualified vocational teachers with a wealth of experience in immersion courses.  For the past 30 years, they, together with their children,  have been living and working between Asturias, where they run two English schools and welcome small numbers of students for immersion courses in their own home, and the UK, where they have run immersion courses for international teenagers.

Alex is a King’s College London History graduate and Cambridge Oral Examiner with a Distinction in Cambridge DELTA M1 (Understanding Language, Methodology and Resources for Teaching), a Merit in Cambridge Delta M2 (Developing Professional Practice), and Cambridge DELTA M3 (English Language Teaching Management). 

“One of the aspects of ECHO which I most enjoy is seeing how relationships are forged with our students and their families: students, and their brothers, sisters, cousins and friends, come back year after year, and some have enjoyed courses in both the UK and Spain.  Now we are welcoming the sons and daughters of students who came when they were teenagers! Nearly all our new students come on direct recommendation of students who have been with us before. This is the best feedback on our courses, and also a pleasure in itself. It makes my job very rewarding and tells me that what we do makes a difference.” 

Carmen is a specialist in teaching Young Learners. She has a talent for getting the very best out of each of her students, and also helps other teachers to do the same. Her experience, organisational skills and caring nature ensure the students are very well looked after. She is also a fantastic cook! 

“What I most like about Echo is its size – small! The atmosphere is much more like a family than a school. I get to know each student that comes through our door very well, and they also get to know us and each other very well. There is a sense of community, and students from different countries often keep in touch with each other for years afterwards, or arrange to return together. It’s always a pleasure to see familiar faces come back again.”