Europe—Culture Smart!

Barry Tomalin is Senior Lecturer in International Communication and Cultural Awareness at the London Academy of Diplomacy and Director of the Business Cultural Trainers Certificate at International House, London. He has taught at Link University in Rome, and run training programs in Milan, Rome, Genoa, and Naples. He has traveled extensively in Italy and provides the visitor with his firsthand experience and professional insight into this fascinating country and its people.

Belen Aguado Viguer is a protocol, diplomacy, and tourism expert. She graduated in Tourism at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, continued with an MBA in Protocol, Event Management, and Institutional Relations at the Universidad Camilo Jose Cela (Madrid), and completed an MA in International Business and Diplomacy at the London Academy of Diplomacy, University of East Anglia. At present she works as a coordinator of international mobility and development at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya.

Marian Meaney is a teacher, a translator, and an interpreter who lived and worked in Spain for twenty years. After graduating with honors in English and Spanish from University College, Galway, she completed a higher diploma in education and was awarded a scholarship to study Spanish culture at the University of Salamanca. She subsequently ran English-language academies in Malaga and Barcelona and has advised both Spanish businesses and government organizations on international exchange programs.

Charles Armstrong trained at the Drama Studio. His theatre work includes Stop Messing About (Leicester Square Theatre) and Round the Horne Revisited (West End and Tour). He has also worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company, National, and many repertory theaters. His work on film and TV includes Scoop, EastEnders, Poirot, Head Over Heels, and The Navigators. He has recorded numerous voiceovers, documentaries, radio dramas, and audiobooks.

Anna Bentinck, who trained at the Arts Educational School, has made over eight hundred broadcasts for BBC radio and has performed for animated series as well as television. An experienced audiobook narrator, she has recorded a wide variety of audiobooks, including classics, teenage sci-fi, children's titles, and animation.

Peter Noble is an experienced audiobook narrator. Born in South Africa, he was dragged by hippie musicians from his idyllic childhood, where he ran barefoot through rich and matted grass with his dog Bartok, to vegetarian communes from California to India via Lisbon, London, and Findhorn. He picked up a wide range of authentic local accents and character voices along the way.