Hi, I'm Annie
Teaching the world!
I’ve been “teaching the world” since changing careers from broadcasting to teaching English to adults in the early 2000’s. The in-person courses with lively, colourful Venezuelan engineers and studious, shy Chinese students moved online in 2012 and I’ve never looked back.
Sharing my knowledge to help motivated adults open up their world, continues to be one of the most satisfying and stimulating jobs imaginable.
The change of career required dedication and concentration to complete the necessary TESOL training, from Certificate to Diploma to Masters level. It was demanding but taught me two very useful lessons. Firstly, how it feels to learn as an adult, and secondly, the importance of aiming for, and achieving, realistic goals, one step at a time – invaluable experience when it comes to training other adults.
The buzz of those early university courses for South American, European and Asian students has now spread to the wider online world of coaching global business professionals today. I love helping them enrich their lives, and careers, by passing on the skills, strategies and knowledge of global English I’ve learned from my years of training.
If you would like to work with me, contact me here.
Core values
To give you some insights into who I am and how I work, here are three of my most important values:
Patience.
Vital for both learner and trainer in the learning process, to ensure an open mind that doesn’t shut down in frustration, anger or loss of confidence when faced with challenges.
The essential steps in language learning involve building on what is already known.
Patiently creating bridges to new connections and knowledge.
Trust.
Has to be mutual between learner and trainer: you can feel very exposed speaking to another adult in a “foreign” language.
What we say is so tied up with our own identity that we can feel embarrassed and awkward, stupid even, when we struggle to express ourselves in new ways and words.
Learners have to feel safe with their trainer who they can trust to help and encourage them, and know what is, or is not, important to learn.
On the other side, trainers have to be able to trust that their learners are serious about learning and that they will commit to the tasks set. Everyone’s time is precious.
Curiosity.
The key to continuous learning and respect between trainee and trainer.
The desire to find out more about the world and how people can best communicate with each other. It keeps both sides interested and enquiring, never complacent.
Whether at work or in social settings with others.