An experienced teacher of English
I have almost 20 years' experience as a teacher of English as a second language, including 11 years' as an examiner. I have taught in China, France and Taiwan.
While teaching English at New Channel (新航道) in Beijing, I helped thousands of students to improve their English and pass their IELTS or TOEFL exams, to prepare for studying abroad.
I am an experienced writing teacher. I designed an academic writing course for my students at No 7 High School in Chengdu, one of the best high schools in south-west China.
I taught academic writing on a pre-sessional course at the University of Surrey and on a pre-master's programme for British universities (NCUK) at the South-West University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, China.
I have excellent writing skills. Before becoming a teacher, I worked as a journalist for nine years, including five years as a subeditor for UK national newspapers.
I have many years of experience of preparing students for English exams.
Certificates and languages
I hold the CELTA, and DELTA Modules 1 and 3 certificates for teaching English as a second language, which are certified by Cambridge University.
I am fluent in Chinese (Mandarin). I studied it at National Cheng Kung University (成功大学) in Tainan, Taiwan, and at Beijing Normal University (北师大). I passed the top level of the HSK Mandarin test (汉语水平考试)（set by the Confucius Institute) in 2011. I know myself the pressures and challenges of trying to achieve a good score in a language test.
I also have a BA (Hons) 2:1 in French from the University of Leicester and a Post-graduate Diploma in Journalism Studies from the University of Cardiff.
I hold a current Enhanced DBS Certificate and ACRO Police Certificate (which show that I don't have a criminal record). If you need to verify this, please let me know. These are the certificates required for teachers working with children in the UK or for applying for visas or work in other countries.
My interests
I love walking up mountains and in other beautiful landscapes. I live with my wife and son in Somerset, near the pretty city of Bath, and there are lots of lovely places nearby to go hiking.
I enjoy singing and am a member of a choir. I'm not always in tune when I first start a song but with practise I sound OK. Just like learning a language, really!
I love watching football although the teams I support (including England) normally disappoint me in the end.
I love meeting all kinds of people from different cultures and finding out about them, which is why I have always enjoyed teaching English and learning languages.
I have loved several holidays in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. I have also travelled to numerous countries in Europe, north and east Africa. The country I haven't yet been to but would most like to visit is India. I lived for ten years in China, a year in France and a year in Taiwan.
