Ignaty Dyakov wears several hats (apart from a deer-stalker and a faux-fur Russian hat). He has authored a series of unconventional Russian and ELT textbooks, which help students learn grammar and vocabulary through fun-to-read detective stories. They are now used at universities and schools all over the world, US, UK and France being the biggest markets.

Ignaty has been teaching languages since 2001 and in 2015 became a finalist of the prestigious ‘Best Russian language teacher outside of Russia’ award. He is frequently invited to deliver teacher training and talks at schools, universities and language shows.

A Chartered Linguist and the founder of the linguistic consulting company Russia Local, he helped international SMEs and organisations work with Russian clientele and expand into the Russian market.

In recent years, after he qualified as a life coach and Ayurvedic consultant, he has set up a health and wellbeing coaching practice in the Midlands. He works on a one-to-one basis, delivers talks and workshops and writes articles on a holistic approach to health, complementary therapies and coaching methods. More information can be found on www.lifesensei.uk.

In his spare time, he loves writing and reading short stories, walking, vegan cooking and a bit of DIY.