I was born in Shrewsbury, England where I spent a big portion of my life. After a 2014 vacation to Tatry and several other visits, I moved to Poland in 2015. I started teaching not long after, so I’ve got over 7 years of experience in the industry. I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. If I learned one thing during this degree, it was the importance of communication.
In the past I struggled to communicate in my own language due to personal shortcomings, which I learned to overcome through books, getting out of my comfort zone, and other means. When I make new contacts that have their own communication problems, I feel naturally inclined to assist in addressing those.
One thing about me that facilitates communication is I do not have a “thick” accent. Many of my students reveal that I am the first British speaker that they understand. I have been interacting with foreign speakers since I was a child, which is one factor that contributes to this.
My favourite kind of class is one in which I provide a prompt of some sort – for example a task or a number of questions and the group is able to have a freeform discussion. While it’s a lack of engagement from my side, I believe the purpose of language classes is where the students have maximum engagement and the teacher has minimal. To try and facilitate speaking, I often divide the class into groups, so that several conversations occur at once. I’m very grateful for breakout rooms!
I was thrown into the deep end when I started my career; I had no background but my own language. To compensate I invested the majority of my free time in developing tailored content, studying grammar, and finding multiple ways of approaching language study (I read Michael Swan in bed!). A lot of my content is inspired by YouTube videos, topics that are current or still relevant or interesting today, and internet articles.
I like to get students to think outside the box. There is the occasional “miss” but I appreciate the opportunity for personal growth to admit things like “ “Okay this isn’t as interesting to others as it is to me”.
I hope that you’ll find learning with me a unique and memorable experience, one which develops both your language and general communication skills just as I work on my own.
in September 2023 I completed CELTA. It has been quite a ride! 🙂