My lessons depend on what the student wants to learn; however, I always try to combine language-learning with cultural awareness. Usually, I will select a short article to read, or a picture to look at, or some music to listen to, on a theme which is interesting to the student, and we use this as a starting point for discussions. We talk not only about what we see or read, but about behaviour, customs, ideas, tastes and beliefs. This is a way to introduce new vocabulary, grammar points and ideas without lessons becoming too dry and technical. I also like to encourage students to write for themselves - this can be, for example, in the form of a diary, letters or stories, which they write on their own and then bring to the lesson to discuss. If a student wishes, lessons can also focus on particular aspects of daily life - for example, visiting the hospital, going to the bank, etc. For much younger students, I focus learning around toys, puppets, pictures and stories. If advanced students want a more technical, linguistics-based approach, they are very welcome to request this.

I like lessons to be informal and unpressured. In my experience, the most important point of language teaching is to build students' confidence so that, whatever their level of English, they feel happy to go out and use it in the real world. This is because actually using a language in the community is the best way to master it.