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Hi, my name is Chris. I'm from Yorkshire in the North of England. I have travelled far and wide (Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, South America), and lived altogether about twenty years in Edinburgh and London. Now, however, I am back in my hometown. Besides teaching, I currently spend my time making things with wood and epoxy resin in my cellar, disproving the idea that people who teach can't do anything else!
Thanks to my travelling, and general curioslty about the world, I speak several languages myself, and of course I think that this can be a tremendous advantage for you, since I understand the process of learning a language, and also I have a deep insight into the mistakes which learners make, thanks to my understanding of their own languages!
My teaching experience goes back to the nineties, when I taught for three years in schools in western Japan. After doing a few other things in my life, I came back to teaching in 2013, and taught for seven years in schools in London, until Covid happened. I then returned to my hometown, Bradford, and since then I have been teaching online, as well as teaching community classes in the area.
I have taught all levels, from beginner to advanced, business English, Cambridge exams (FCE, CAE, etc.), and IELTS. In more recent years I have become quite specialised in IELTS. I have seen many students go on to score 7+ in the exam (two or three even got an 8, but maybe that's more about them than me!)
Of course i have been teaching for long enough to know that not everyone is going to like my style, but I think that most people do appreciate the way I teach.
In the case of IELTS I feel that it's quite important to avoid seeing the learning as a painful process leading up to a stressful exam. I try to focus on the fact that we can actually learn a lot of interesting things about the world around us (and indeed about ourselves!) while doing what is necessary to pass the exam.
If you are not studying for an exam, then of course we can just focus on enjoying the learning process without those worries. I have been teaching for long enough to be able to cater for most needs. If you want to focus on listening and pronunciation, no problem at all - I love teaching pronunciation. If you just want to read articles and discuss them, no problem! Hopefully we will agree on what is interesting to discuss.
