Visited 2 hours ago
John
Professional TeacherTeaches
English
Native
Speaks
Korean
French
Spanish
Specialties
Test PreparationBusinessHighly Qualified ESL/IELTS Professor (MA TESOL, CELTA) with over 17 years experience teaching ESL.
Teaches
English
Native
Speaks
Korean
French
Spanish
Specialties
Test PreparationBusinessHighly Qualified ESL/IELTS Professor (MA TESOL, CELTA) with over 17 years experience teaching ESL.
About Me
Me as a Teacher
My lessons & teaching style
Resume & Certificates
From United KingdomLiving in Seoul, Republic of Korea (12:18 UTC+09:00)
About Me
italki teacher since May 18, 2018InterestsFilms & TV SeriesTravelHistoryMusicSports & Fitness
Experienced British English instructor with over 18 years of expertise in IELTS preparation, Business English, and conversational fluency. Holder of an MA in TESOL and CELTA certification, ensuring high-quality, research-informed instruction. My personal language learning journey (Korean B1, French A2) informs a patient, empathetic teaching approach. I specialize in structured yet engaging adult education, focusing on rapid confidence-building in professional and academic contexts. Currently working exclusively with adult learners.Me as a Teacher
Lesson and Teaching Style
✅ A relaxed and fun learning environment
✅ 1-to-1, pair and group classes are available
✅ Customised classes based on you and your objectives
✅ Detailed actionable feedback to help you progress as quickly as possible
✅ Specific homework to again help you progress as quickly as possible
✅ A record of work
✅ HD camera
✅ Studio quality audio
✅ Unlimited email support My lessons & teaching style
Hi, my name’s John, a highly qualified native British ESL teacher-I’ve been teaching English as a second language for over 18 years. I’ve worked with hundreds of students from beginner to advanced level and from kindergartners to adults. I specialize in conversational English and developing learner’s confidence to start communicating effectively so as to help learners to communicate, work and study in native English speaking countries and enjoy interacting with native English speaking culture.My teaching material
- PDF file
- Text Documents
- Presentation slides/PPT
- Audio files
- Image files
- Video files
- Flashcards
- Articles and news
- Quizzes
- Test templates and examples
- Homework Assignments
- Graphs and charts
Certificates
IELTS Test Preparation - Italki - 2024
Certificate verified
Business English - Italki - 2024
Certificate verified
IH Certificate in Online Tutoring - International House - 2019The aim of the IH COLT course is to train tutors in techniques and approaches to online tutoring for both student-oriented and teacher-oriented courses in Virtual Learning Environments. The course focuses on the demands of the asynchronous environments and how this is different from face-to-face teaching. In addition, the course looks at the various ways synchronous tools can be used for teaching face to face online.
Certificate verified
CELTA-Cambridge ESOL Level 5* Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages - The British Council, Seoul, South Korea - 2012This was 12 week course which developed my skills and knowledge of teaching ESL to ESL adult learners. I wrote, developed material and taught 12 adult classes under the observation of two course tutors and fellow course candidates. I also completed 4 written assignments-focusing on the learner, language related tasks, skills related tasks, lessons from the classroom. It enables me to apply for a DELTA qualification.
Certificate verified
Education
2013 - 2015
Master's - MA in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL)I received a merit classification for my master's course in TESOL through the University of Sunderland. It was an online taught, 18 month course, which comprised of assignments, examinations and a final dissertation. My dissertation focused on "Teacher's Perspectives on the Teaching of Western Culture in the Korean EFL Context".
1999 - 2002
Bachelor’s - Politics and Contemporary HistoryThis was a 3 year course that covered contemporary and historical issues in politics and history. The two areas of study were taught as one discipline. Units covered included Arab and Israeli Conflict, the British Labour Party, UK/US Politics and the history and politics of Northern Ireland.
Work Experience
2016 - 2018
Assistant ProfessorResponsible for creating effective lesson plans and teaching to ESL learners. The courses I have taught include conversation English, English for business and Media English.
5.0
Rating
195
Students
2,772
Lessons
100%
Attendance rate
100%
Response rate
English Lessons
Trial Lesson
88 lessons completed
USD 10.00+
English Conversation for Intermediate Students
A1 - C2Language Essentials516 lessons completed
USD 25.00
Package with 12% off
Language Arts-For Teenagers & Adults
B1 - C2Conversation243 lessons completed
USD 60.00
Package with 17% off
English Conversation for Upper Intermediate Students
A1 - C2Language Essentials948 lessons completed
USD 25.00
Package with 12% off
English Conversation for Beginners
A1 - C2Language Essentials263 lessons completed
USD 25.00
Package with 12% off
Business English (Pre-Intermediate to Advanced)
B1 - C2Business188 lessons completed
USD 25.00
Package with 12% off
IELTS Test Practice & Guidance (Speaking, Writing, Listening & Reading)
A1 - C2Test Preparation517 lessons completed
USD 25.00
Package with 12% off
Availability
Based on your timezone (UTC+00:00)
My creations
Podcast (1)
Quiz (5)
327 Reviews
Flora
13 English lessons
Teacher’s pick
This teacher is my favourite teacher!!! John has been incredibly helpful in advancing my IELTS speaking skills, with targeted improvements across every key area I struggled with. He first focused on my conjunctions use—guiding me to choose and apply them more appropriately, which directly eliminated the choppiness in my expression and made my logical connections far smoother. Beyond that, he helped me refine how I organize content, teaching me to structure ideas in a clear, cohesive way that avoids disorganization. He also paid close attention to my grammar and sentence structures: correcting recurring errors, reinforcing proper usage, and introducing more varied, advanced structures to replace my over-reliance on simple sentences. Thanks to this comprehensive guidance, my speaking has become more fluent, accurate, and expressive overall.
Nov 3, 2025
Serin Cheu
28 English lessons
Teacher’s pick
John is a great teacher. I took emergency IELTS classes from him and in just 9 days (28 classes) he taught me a lot of exam strategies and gave me good advice. We focused on my needs and it really helped! We studied around 3 hours a day but I never got bored because the lessons were so fun and he had a lot of high-quality learning materials. He was prepared and that made me feel more relaxed cause I knew that I found the right teacher for my needs. I know that it's really hard for a teacher to teach the whole IELTS in 9 days but he didn't hesitate and he took the risk with me! I took the test yesterday and if I hadn't studied with John I could've failed it. I haven't received my IELTS results yet but I know that I did well and I'm not stressed about it at all. He's definitely the BEST teacher you can find on italki, I feel so lucky to have a teacher like John and I hope to learn more from him in future!
Sep 15, 2021
Asma Alkaf
17 English lessons
Thank you John for your continuous support and encouragement. It really helps me to grow with you, each lesson I feel satisfied and confident to learn more 🙏🏼💕
Jan 24, 2026
Justin
21 English lessons
Teacher’s pick
John is a great teacher who is patient, professional and knowledgeable. I’ve taken his IELTS lessons for more than a month and successfully improved my IELTS speaking score from band 5.5 to band 6.5. I’m so grateful!
Dec 23, 2022
Heidi
1 English lesson
John is very experienced and patient. I have learned a lot.😁
Feb 9, 2026
Noor Alkaf
30 English lessons
I am grateful to have found a brilliant teacher like Jhon who helped me improve my English, especially my writing and speaking skills.
Jan 16, 2026
Trial Lesson
USD 10.00
Your final payment will be made in USD