Information About Nick - Oxford teacher

Personal Description:

Hi, I'm a qualified English teacher with over 10 years of experience of teaching English to speakers of other languages. I really enjoy helping learners to develop their English to a higher level. Having taught many people who need to use English on a daily basis, I understand the importance of learning English that can make a practical difference in your life.
As well as teaching English, I'm also trying to improve my Italian, so I know that learning a language isn't easy, but I also think that it's an exciting challenge!

Teaching Experience:

I have experience of teaching English at every level from elementary to advanced. As well as teaching general English, I have also taught Business English and exam English. I am experienced in preparing students to achieve their goals in a range of exams including the C1 Advanced, the B2 First, the IELTS, and the Occupational English Test for medical workers.

Since 2010 I have worked at a number of schools in the UK and Italy. I have also had the pleasure of teaching learners privately, both one to one, and in small groups. This enables my students to focus on what is important to them in life, whether that is improving their English to find a job, or building their confidence with English in their day-to-day life.

As well as teaching individuals, I have also worked with companies, providing Business English courses to employees to help them to develop the linguistic skills that they need to progress in the workplace.

Teaching Approach:

I don't teach by following coursebooks. - We've done page 56, now turn to page 57. - That's not for me! Coursebooks can be helpful occasionally, but they don't know what you can do in English, and they don't know what you need to learn or want to learn!

My starting point is talking to YOU to find out how improving your English matters in your life. I focus on helping you to develop your English through conversation because when you try to express your ideas in English, you will see what you can do in English, and what you find difficult to do. I can help you to develop your English to express yourself better in English.

Motivation is an important part of language learning. I feel that learning the language that you need to express your ideas is a lot more motivating than learning the language that happens to be on page 57. I hope you agree.

However, that raises another question; what type of language do you need to express yourself? Let's imagine that someone asks you 'What did you do yesterday evening?'
This is my answer - I stayed in and watched a film on TV.

So, what language do we need here?
Past simple? - Yes, but that's not enough!
There's a pattern with the phrasal verb 'stay in'. Can you see it? It's… I stayed in and… - watched a film on TV
OR
- chatted with a friend on Whatsapp
- had an early night
- finished reading a book
Now can you see the pattern? It's 'I stayed in + past simple action

So, I don't focus on verb tenses by themselves, or even on words by themselves, but on how people usually use words in real life.

I hope that this gives you an idea of how I can help you to develop your English to use in your life.

You can watch my language videos at **Web Address Removed**