When booking a trial lesson, please let me know about your background learning English, your current level and learning goals. This way I can find you an appropriate exercise to try out and we can use the short time more effectively. :)

➡️ Idiomatic expressions have long played an important role in the English
language and are so widespread that an understanding of them is essential to successful communication, in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
➡️ Without a working knowledge of such idioms, even the best student's speech can remain awkward and ordinary, despite a good grounding in grammar and an extensive vocabulary.

✅ Let's 'Give You an Edge' in English (Idiomatic Expressions + Phrasal Verbs, Proverbs, Riddles: UK & US)

➡️ Aimed at ESL students, academics, actors who wish to develop a British accent, public speakers, international businessmen and executives, diplomats, skilled professionals, call centre employees, people who work in service and hospitality industries, etc. 
➡️ Aimed at anyone who wishes to reduce their accent for communication purposes. 
➡️ Aimed at actors who wish to acquire a (southern) British accent.
➡️ Useful for children/teenagers learning English at school whose teacher may not be a native speaker. 
➡️ Students are recommended to purchase the books 'Get Rid of Your Accent: The English Pronunciation and Speech Training Manual' (Parts 1 and 2)  by Linda James and Olga Smith - please see me for details. There is also an app to accompany the series.
➡️ For students who have completed this series, or have studied pronunciation in depth already, we will follow the coursebook 'Pronunciation in Use' by Martin Hewings, published by Cambridge University Press, along with other materials.

Please note that there are very many accents in the UK, and this course focuses on just one of them (received pronunciation). My own accent is standard southern English.

✅ Master a British accent (Premium)

Please message me before booking, to agree on the delivery of your lesson.
➡️Editing / proofreading: 500 words  max.
➡️Recording / video transcription: 5 minutes max.
➡️Essay / composition feedback and guidance: 1000 words max.
➡️Preparation for the writing component of IELTS and CPE.
➡️Other requirements in accordance with your learning needs, e.g. editing / feedback for letters of application for university, personal statements, etc

Please be upfront about any use of AI technology in your writing. I will be able to tell ;)

✅ Editing / Proofreading / Creative Writing / Essay Feedback & English for Special Needs (not a live lesson: please read the description)

Whether you are already familiar with the classics from the Golden Age of Crime in your own language, or new to them altogether, let's meet our best-known sleuths as they unravel some of the most famous mysteries in the genre: choose from novels and short stories by Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and many, many more.
The course involves a mixture of private reading outside the lesson time with reading out loud, discussion of language and plot analysis within the lesson itself.
Please note that this course can be adapted to include other types of text and genres of literature, and may also be suitable for older children of an intermediate level and above. Please contact me to discuss your requirements.

✅ English Literature: Language, Style and Plot in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction

Whether your goal is to improve your IELTS score, sit the CPE, write a short story or just generally enhance your speaking or writing skills, this tailor-made course is designed to take your English to the next level. Based loosely around the Cambridge University Press 'In Use' series, we will focus on activities that tackle your weaker areas to even up your skills and/or maximise your chances of exam success. Writing homework will be edited and discussed live in the following lesson using Google Docs. 

Please note that IELTS or CPE Writing classes are based less around a textbook but instead focus on writing you have already produced, editing it live and discussing the reasons for any changes. You will therefore need to prepare your writing in advance of the lesson (using either your own questions or supplied by me). 

How much should I prepare? 
It is best to prepare too much for the lesson, but as a very rough guide, please prepare three pieces of writing (e.g. 3 x IELTS tasks) for an hour's lesson with the aim of completing two of them. 

When booking a lesson, please message me with your goals.

✅  English for Advanced Learners / IELTS Writing / CPE Writing

I have lost count of how many students have told me that they possess the best-selling grammar book Grammar in Use (by Raymond Murphy: Cambridge University Press), but that they soon ran out of steam using it for self-study. There's no way round the need for grammar, yet it can seem dry and dull. So dust off that book and let's do it together! Let me provide motivation and support, further explanation and examples. 
This textbook consists of 145 chapters covering all the topics you will need at intermediate level, with clear explanations and exercises. As a very rough guide, we are likely to cover 1-2 chapters per hour.

A (grammar) problem shared is a (grammar) problem halved! Better still, eradicated altogether.

✅  English Grammar (Intermediate)

I gained experience of working in a number of libraries, both computerised and non-computerised, within the Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells groups. At first this work was part-time, but became full-time and ended with promotion to Senior Library Assistant at Edenbridge library, which was also a secondment. This work gave me experience of stock ordering, merchandise sales, training and supervision of staff, banking and manning the enquiry desk, as well as day-to-day library duties.

My work for this expanding company involved many aspects of academic and school-book production, undertaken for several major publishers. This included page make-up using QuarkXpress 6.52, copyediting and proofreading. I project-managed up to twenty titles at any time, liaising with authors, publishers and artists and co-ordinating members of our team, training where necessary.
I worked on a variety of publications, from full-colour GCSE-level schoolbooks to multi-author academic works.

Utilising the ten years’ experience I gained at GreenGate, I now work in a freelance capacity as an editor and proofreader on a range of publications, from academic and educational textbooks to online learning materials for the NHS. 
Clients include Routledge, the House of Lords, Line Communications, Florence Production, Macmillan, GreenGate Publishing Services, Search Press, City & Guilds, Dark Moon, John Blake Publishing, Ebury Press, Integra, HarperCollins and e-LfH.