Our People

Jayde Friman

A New Zealander and a Finn

From Timaru, New Zealand

Lives in Kaarina, Finland

Jayde is originally from New Zealand and has lived in Finland since 1999. She has worked for several language schools and has had her own language coaching company for the past 11 years. With well over a decade of experience as an English Coach, and being a seasoned world traveller, she has had dealings with a multitude of cultures worldwide; this has enabled her to develop her managerial and interpersonal skills. During her time here she has been able to perfect her coaching style and methodology to suit her learners’ needs. Jayde has experience in numerous fields including banking and finance, insurance, ICT, mining, construction, telecommunications as well as universities amongst others.

Justin Palframan

South African and Finnish

From Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Lives in Kaarina, Finland

Justin Palframan has studied languages in his native South Africa, as well as business management. He has worked as a language coach in the adult education industry since 2005 and has helped numerous learners to develop their language skills in their own specific business areas. Justin has owned his own language school since 2015. Justin has experience in banking and finance, insurance, engineering, construction, pharmaceuticals, proofreading and tutoring.

Johanna Anttila

A Finn who lived in the United States for 7.5 years

Lives in Turku, Finland

Johanna was born in Pori, Finland and has lived in Turku most of her life. She lived in New York, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, for 7.5 years total, and she returned to Finland in 2020. While in the United States, Johanna studied with several prestigious language coaches and learned the standard American accent. She has worked as a film actress, a counselor for foster families, and as a general manager at an escape room, all of which have helped her develop her presentation skills, social skills, and managerial skills.

Christopher Goldsmith

Englishman

From Kent, England

Lives in Turku, Finland.

Chris is originally from the UK and has lived in Finland since 2007.  He has worked in multinational companies for most of his career both in Finland and the UK and has worked with many different cultures during globally held positions.  He has extensive experience with presenting as well as content creation with regards to marketing communications and training material. Chris has been able to support clients using these skills, since joining Coaching Language in 2019.

Susanna Granroth

A Swedish speaking Finn

From Biskopsö, Finland

Lives in Dalsbruk, Finland

Master in Pedagogy

Susanna has studied pedagogy at Åbo Akademi and works as a teacher in her hometown Kimitoön. Susanna’s mother tongue is Swedish, and she is looking forward to help you to learn to speak and use the language. Susanna likes to meet new people, and she hopes that she will have an opportunity to meet you too! When she’s not working, you can find her in the gym or running around.

Kaarina Valtanen

Finnish

From Lohja, Finland

Lives in Turku, Finland

Kaarina Valtanen, BSc and LCF, has taught language courses in the business sector and its numerous fields, for over 30 years already.

She wants to bring the best out of her students and to boost their ability to speak English, French or Finnish (for foreigners) freely and without fear. She has even been known to instruct in other languages if needed. She has taught in a variety of fields over her extensive career and has helped many students to grow and develop their skills.

Malavika Jaikumar

Indian

From Bangalore, India

Lives in Espoo, Finland

Malavika is a certified corporate communications trainer from India. She has previously worked with multinational companies providing consultation through designing content and delivery strategies for the training and development of their staff. She has also worked as an English language teacher for the Indian army and coached students preparing for the IELTS exams. She moved to Finland in 2014 to pursue specialised studies in adult education and lifelong learning and is currently working on her PhD. With a ‘never-say-can’t-do’ attitude Malavika believes that “there are more solutions to problems than the number of problems themselves, one must simply be innovative and perseverant”.

Oliver Dahlmann

German

From Wuppertal, NRW, Germany

Lives in Turku

Oliver came to in Finland 1994. He teaches German courses from an absolute beginner level right up to conversation courses and courses for special needs for higher level learners. He also works as an authorized translator from both Finnish and Swedish into German. One of the most common comments on his teaching is: “He made us talk.”