Meet the Team
The people (and creatures) helping your English feel good
Principal English Coach & Holiday Co-ordinator
Your Guide to Scottish Culture
Ruth is a popular ESL English instructor; a creative, flexible thinker. She’s sociable and friendly but loves quiet times, nature, Scottish heritage, art and culture. (And cats.)
Higher Education
Ruth trained as an artist at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee, UK (B.A. Hons) and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA (picking up her M.F.A. in Fine Art and a Certificate in Higher Education Teaching).
Art World
She’s also worked with a number of arts organisations, and artist collectives.
Ruth: spontaneous, adventurous and creative
ELT English Teaching
Ruth Pringle spent 3 years in Brussels and 7 years in Paris teaching adult ESL English to university classes and private language schools (L.S.I International and Inlingua).
She was on teaching teams for corporate clients including HAS, Nike France, Arcelor Mittal, INPES, L’Agence de la Biomedicine and Cegelec.
ELT Art Schools
She then specialised as an English instructor for art schools, and taught at: École Brassart, Tours; École de Condé, Paris-Segur; École Speciale d’Architecture, Paris, École Supérieure d’Art et de Design, Reims; Institut Universitaire de Technologie, Mantes la Jolie, Université Paris 13, Paris.
How My Art Training Helps Your English
“My work is shaped by years of creative training, where holding space, working intuitively, and designing meaningful experiences are core skills.
That background informs how I approach English learning — not as a system to enforce, but as something to be carefully dismantled, reshaped, and held with care.”
Enjoy a Language Holiday Full of Expertise and Friendship
Share Professional Skills
Our teaching team are all experts in their field and have lots of skills to demonstrate and professional experiences to share on your adult language holiday.
Love Scottish Art and Culture
Whether it’s music, art, or literature, our friends have great knowledge and passion and want to introduce to you the things they love.
Eat and Drink with Us
Our friends are your new friends.
They regularly pop in to share our tasting menu and social events.
Studios & Workshops
A few of our friends have artist studios and are happy to show you what they are working on. It’s a fantastic way to learn professional English!
Take You on a Tour
Whether it’s a stroll around Crieff learning about its history or foraging for wild herbs, our hub team are keen to help you practice speaking English by sharing the things about Perthshire that they love.
Blue Noun Language Hub: Adult Language Holidays in Scotland.
Our English language school is a ‘hub’.
Whether you take our English conversation holidays, or work with us online, you’ll benefit from speaking to a range of people.
Each guest coach has unique skills to offer our English language school and has their own professions, businesses & skills to share with you.
Guest Experts & Friends
The people you meet here are part of a carefully designed approach to how your English develops.
Instead of working with one teacher throughout, you’ll work with a small group of specialists — each focused on a different part of how you communicate.
→ Learn how working with ELT specialists shapes your progress
LOLIE
An Arts Graduate, Radio Host & Radio Station Director, TV producer, Lolie is an expert on all things media.
Jen
Jen began her career as a scientist, and now shares nature with visitors and locals through guided walks, songs, myths and storytelling.
CHARMAIN
Set Designer, Props and Model Maker, Charmain has fabulous stories from inside the TV and film industry.
CLAIRE
Herbalist and crafter Claire talks about Health & Wellbeing, nature and plants through hands-on workshops.
BARRY SCOTT
Barry is a painter and picture framer with a studio in Perthshire. We feature his painting course during our September holidays.
JAN
A riding coach and pony expert, Jan is training up her young highland pony to be a therapy horse. Jan can introduce you to rural Perthshire.
FIONA Mc.
Fiona is a glass graduate from Edinburgh College of Art and the founder of a local eco-business which has won worldwide recognition.
JEN
A Scientist and a nature guide, Jen is an expert in helping people slow down and love nature
FIONA
Fiona is an Art & Contemporary Practices graduate. She has a passion for socially engaged art and politics.
Fiona teaches our English for Disabilities Workshop.
JENNIE
Jennie is a pronunciation coach. She joins Blue Noun to give workshops on improving pronunciation skills.
LHAMO
Lhamo is a musician, songwriter and creativity coach. She regularly helps our English learners through journaling and mindset workshops.
OUR COMMUNITY
Who knows who you will meet on a language holiday? We never do until it’s happening. And you can trust us, that’s a good thing!
Want to Join the Blue Noun Team?
Meet the Language School Cats
In 2024, the humans were joined by 3 kittens.
Rocky, Rosie, and Finnn live upstairs from the language hub but frequently come to English class. They like to meet everyone and learn what’s going on.
Most of our language-learning guests find having cats around to relax a bonus.
If you are allergic – or it’s not your thing, let us know when you book.
→ Small Cat, Big Picture: Your Right to Comfort in Language Learning
