Marina Burrell

Born in St. Petersburg and brought up in the former Soviet Union, Marina developed an early passion for languages, culture and the arts that she has carried with her through her life and career. Marina’s teaching interests focus on the history, art, music and literature of the regions she knows best, particularly Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic States. She draws on both academic expertise and personal experience, supplementing them with period artefacts and engaging materials.

After completing both secondary and music education in Siberia, Marina went on to study pedagogy, linguistics, history, literature, aesthetics, arts and economics across several academic centres, including Moscow, Tallinn and Cambridge. She later obtained an MA in Applied Linguistics along with a PGCE in Teacher Training in London. Her international experience spans Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, the UK and Kazakhstan. And she also presented at academic conferences at universities in Scotland and the USA.

Marina brings extensive teaching experience from both further and higher education. Her roles have included ESOL Tutor at Huntingdon Regional College, Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University and at the University of Essex. Since 2005, she has worked as an Examiner, Consultant and Teacher Trainer with the University of Cambridge, and since 2015 has been a lecturer with the WEA.

Her teaching style is interactive and participant focused. Rather than traditional lecturing, she encourages questions, discussion and collaboration, helping learners feel confident, involved and inspired.