DAAD-Lektors

Florian Thaller studied English, Geography and German as a Foreign Language (GFL) at Philipps-University Marburg, California State University, East Bay and Pennsylvania State University (both USA). He graduated with a first state examination for teaching at secondary schools and a master’s degree in GFL. Subsequently, he worked as a research assistant in the Department of German as a Foreign Language at the University of Marburg, taught GFL courses at the University Language Center, and gave continuing education courses for GFL teachers in Germany and abroad, including as an Erasmus guest lecturer at the American University of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan). His research focuses on foreign language didactics and classroom research. Mr. Thaller is a member of the editorial board of the Journal for Interaction Research in DaFZ (ZIAF), founded in 2021, and is working on a doctoral thesis on classroom interaction, with a focus on teaching competencies of pre-service teachers of GFL. Since March 2023, Florian Thaller has been a DAAD Lecturer in the Department of German Language and Literature at Seoul National University, South Korea.

Research interests: Literary translation and stylistics. Dominik Feise studied History and Protestant Religion at the Philipps University of Marburg. After the first state examination, he transferred to the Free University of Berlin, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in Latin philology and Korean studies. He then received a scholarship to train as a literary translator at the Literature Translation Institute of Korea in Seoul, where he intensively studied Korean and German literature, their translation, and the stylistics of the German language. Since then, he has been working as a freelance translator with the language combination Korean-German. Most recently, he worked as part of the Bosch Lectureship Program at Sichuan Foreign Language University in Chongqing and then as a librarian in the East Asia Department of the State Library of Berlin. From March 2022 to August 2024 he was a DAAD Lektor at the Department of German and European Studies at Keimyung University in Daegu and is currently a DAAD Lektor at the Department of German Language & Literature at Yonsei University.

After completing a teacher degree (German), Tijana Funk graduated with a Master’s degree in German Medieval Studies at the University of Bonn, funded by a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). During her studies, she already worked in the field of German as a foreign language and taught various target groups. A short period of teaching at a university abroad complemented her profile. Her professional career initially took her to the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) before she joined the DAAD head office in Bonn in 2020 – first in student coordination for the Asia and Pacific region, then in project management for the Erasmus+ programme. In this role, she advised over 350 German universities. At the same time, she worked part-time as a teacher of German as a foreign language.
She is also an active member of the DAAD Alumni & Friends. She enjoys volunteering with international students – especially the intercultural exchange and the opportunity to network with young people from all over the world and learn from them. Since March 2024, Tijana Funk has been working as a DAAD Lektor at Pusan National University.

Leonie Dinter first completed a Bachelor’s degree in North American Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, during which she spent a DAAD-funded year abroad at the University of Minnesota, USA. She then decided to pursue a teaching degree and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in German Studies at Ruhr University Bochum, followed by a Master of Education in German and English at the same institution. During her studies, Leonie Dinter taught German as a foreign language in various contexts, for example at a language school in Vietnam and through an institutional partnership at a university in Mongolia. In 2024/2025, she worked as a DAAD teaching assistant at Ohio State University in the United States, where she gained deeper insights into university-level foreign language teaching. Her research interests include writing pedagogy, communicative foreign language teaching, and syntax, particularly the use of attributes. Since March 2026, Leonie Dinter has been working as a lecturer at Chonnam National University in Gwangju.

Dennis Nagel initially studied Interdisciplinary American Studies at the University of Tübingen. During his studies, he started working as a teaching assistant and tutor in the Department of German as a Foreign Language and International Programs. This was followed by a master’s degree in German as a Second and Foreign Language at the University of Education in Freiburg. After completing his studies, he returned to Tübingen, where he taught German courses at the university and contributed to the development of a DaZ workbook. Since March 2026, he has been working as a DAAD language assistant at Pusan National University.