TESOL Educator & Practical Theologian

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Maksym Achkasov

OCELT, ACE TESOL, TESL Diploma, CertIBET, B.A., M.A.

Professional Summary

Maksym Achkasov (phon.: ˈmæksɪm ˈʌʧkæsəf) is a bilingual ESL instructor and practical theologian specializing in adult education and formation. He is an Ontario Certified English Language Teacher OCELT® by TESL Ontario (Canada) and holds a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Manchester, along with the Certificate of Educational Studies in TESOL from INTESOL W. Ltd (UK), the ACE TESOL Certificate from the London Language Institute, and the TESL Diploma from the Canadian College of Educators (Canada). He also earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychological Counseling from IPTC (Russia). As the founder and moderator of English4real™, a leading language school website in Ukraine (2018–2022), he authored a range of video classes for ESL learners. In addition to his work in TESOL, he is engaged in theological research and ministry, holding a background in theology and currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at TNIU with a focus on the integration of theology and mentorship.
*ESL - English as a second language; bilingual - Russian and English.

Web-sites

Here are some of the websites I have founded and moderate:

Business English Courses

english4real.com

Links for LINC Instructors

clb12.com

Evangelical Faith Christians

domhve.com

As a foreign language educator, I have been fortunate to have personally worked with students from 40 countries:

Afghanistan 🇦🇫    Armenia 🇦🇲    Austria 🇦🇹    Brazil 🇧🇷    Cameroon 🇨🇲    Canada 🇨🇦    China 🇨🇳    Colombia 🇨🇴    Congo 🇨🇬    Croatia 🇭🇷    England 🇬🇧    Ethiopia 🇪🇹    Germany 🇩🇪    Hungary 🇭🇺    India 🇮🇳    Iraq 🇮🇶    Ireland 🇮🇪    Israel 🇮🇱    Japan 🇯🇵    Jordan 🇯🇴    Kazakhstan 🇰🇿    Libya 🇱🇾    Moldova 🇲🇩    Myanmar 🇲🇲    Pakistan 🇵🇰    Palestine 🇵🇸    Poland 🇵🇱    Russia 🇷🇺    Somalia 🇸🇴    South Korea 🇰🇷    Sudan 🇸🇩    Switzerland 🇨🇭    Syria 🇸🇾    Turkey 🇹🇷    UAE 🇦🇪    USA 🇺🇸    Ukraine 🇺🇦    Vietnam 🇻🇳    Yemen 🇾🇪

Goals

As a teacher of adult ESL learners my goals are to provide students with a safe and engaging learning environment, to equip them with real-world language skills (i.e. reading, writing, listening and speaking), and to help them achieve both academic and professional excellence and intercultural competence to their highest potential.

Vision

To be a resourceful and professional ESL teacher who is able to effectively prepare learners for work or study.

Success

A not-intensive but disciplined, relaxed and yet thoughtful study, led through an engaged dialogue with thoughtful and regular feedback is a sure way to significant and solid progress in learning a foreign language.

PowerPoint Presentations

Learning English with Songs

Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart - "Blue Moon" (Our cover) 2023-07-09

Work Experience


6 Sep 2023 to 14 Jun 2024

Language Skills (LINC) Instructor - YMCA of Southwestern Ontario

Planned, prepared and delivered lessons both online using Avenue.ca (LMS) / BigBlueButton technologies and in-person (four groups of 16 to 20 students at CLB 2-3, 3-4, and 5-6 levels); kept track attendance in HARTs; developed curriculum; prepared classroom and coursework materials; designed PowerPoint Presentations and handouts; prepared, administered and set Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing assessments; marked tests/papers to evaluate students' progress and provided feedback; provided blended learning opportunities using laptops to foster learners digital literacy skills; tracked total number of successful artifacts each learner achieved to date (Artifact Tracking Form); kept track of learners artifacts by uploading their assessments and entering all related metadata to their individual ePortfolios; completed and submitted detailed month end reports.
From April 2007 to June 2023

Business English Teacher - Language School English4real

Planned, prepared and delivered lessons to students both online and in-person (including flex/hybrid classes); prepared classroom and coursework materials, homework assignments, and handouts; prepared and set tests, examination papers, and exercises; marked and provided feedback on oral and written works; taught groups and one-to-one; did administration work - enrolling students, keeping attendance records, awarding certificates on completion of courses.

University Degrees


From 06 May 2025 to now

Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) - The New International University

A professional doctoral program designed for experienced practitioners in Christian ministry. The program emphasizes advanced competency in leadership, organizational development, applied theology, and strategic approaches to contemporary ministry challenges.
From 03 June 2001 to 17 June 2005

Master of Arts (M.A.) - The University of Manchester

The degree in the study of Pentecostal and Charismatic issues taught at Regents Theological College (Diploma issued - 28 October 2005; Awarded - 12 November 2005).

Certificates & Diplomas


February 2025

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Practitioner Certification

9-hour Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Practitioner Certification course discusses Emotional Intelligence, examines and explains it's importance and provides tools and strategies for improving Emotional Intelligence in oneself and others at The Priority Academy Ltd, UK.
From October 2024 to February 2025

German Language Course

240-hour A2 German Language Course (A2 Standardkurs) at "Deutsch und Mehr" in Graz, Austria (Pluspunkt Deutsch: Leben in Österreich A2).

Tests & Examinations


February 2025

A2-Prüfung Deutsch

Certificate For The Integration Examination German Language Level A2; Listening/Reading: 46; Writing: 15; Speaking: 30 - OIF, Graz, Austria.
February 2024

CELPIP test - 10

Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP); Listening: 10, Reading: 9, Writing: 11, Speaking: 11, Average: 10; Pathways Educational Services - Kitchener, Kitchener ON.

Accomplishments*

Throughout my teaching career, I have achieved the following milestones:

- Delivered over 14,500 hours of one-to-one and group classes;
- Recorded more than 280 video lessons on YouTube;
- Created over 1,200 original vocabulary tests for A2-C1 levels;
- Received more than 100 positive reviews from students;
- Grew a Facebook community to over 10,000 followers and a YouTube channel to over 8,000 subscribers;
- Developed an educational website with study materials used by an average of over 4,000 people daily for free;
- Set up and effectively maintained the Learning Management System (LMS) for the language school’s academic purposes;
- Developed an efficient attendance-and-payment reporting system in Excel for the language school’s managerial purposes.

Membership

TESL Canada & TESL Ontario

From April 2023 to April 2025

TESL Ontario (20kb)

Video archive

Skills & Qualities

In terms of ESL teacher skills, Maksym Achkasov, has:

- strong personal and interpersonal skills;
- excellent listening and speaking skills;
- good writing skills;
- good time-management and organizational/record-keeping skills;
- knowledge of various teaching techniques and methodologies;
- good problem-solving skills;
- a wide range of experiences in the field of English as a Second Language.

He is also:

- highly motivated and reliable, patient and open-minded;
- good at establishing rapport, building and maintaining constructive relationship with students;
- able to facilitate interesting and engaging group discussions;
- able to make learners feel comfortable and focused in the classroom;
- able to determine effective ways to teach students with different learning styles and needs;
- good at public speaking;
- disciplined and works well in a collaborative environment with other teachers and administration;
- computer literate with some IT knowledge and experience (i.e. html, css, js); therefore, able to incorporate new educational technological solutions into the classroom environment;
- culturally sensitive;
- strategic thinker committed to progress of ESL learners;
- comfortable with electronic communication and social media;
- adaptable and able to comply with institutional policies and procedures.

Testimonials

"Trust me it is a pleasure to work with Maxim! In my experience of learning the language I have met many teachers, including the native one. Though the most effective approach turned out to be that of Maxim – the approach to his students, the study materials and diversity. Attention to details, needs of the learners, preparation and delivering the classes in a friendly atmosphere are a hallmark of Maxim.

Maxim helped me in my preparation to enter the master’s degree. Maxim ’s knowledge and experience of taking international language exams and interviews was a big advantage for in the preparation process. Different variations of questions and answers, appropriate and timely points, details, strategies, tests and a thorough analysis of the results became the key to my successful admission. In this there is a significant contribution from Maxim ; that is what I am grateful to him for.

I am sure that Maxim’s business will thrive and there will be more and more students!"

- Duman A. (Lawyer)