Darren

I pretty sure you’ve come to this page because you’d like to improve your English. Welcome!

My name's Darren and I'm based in Honiton in East Devon. I'm a qualified ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher and also a professional business trainer. I offer tuition in-person at my home as well as online with Zoom and Teams.

Here are some questions for you to think about:

Are you living in the UK at the moment? Do you need help in English with everyday situations here like making small talk with strangers or talking with teachers about your child’s progress at school?

Are you working here? Do you need help in English in situations like speaking to customers or taking part in meetings? Perhaps you’d like help to prepare for a job interview or to improve your business writing?

Would you like to get a certificate in English so you can add it to your CV and improve your job prospects? Do you struggle to understand the longer sentences in more advanced exam texts? Do nerves affect your fluency when you’re doing speaking tests?

With over 10 years’ experience in teaching English as a second language, I can help you develop the skills you need for effective communication in the situations that are important for you.

Prior to teaching, I worked in training and development where I designed and delivered bespoke training solutions in the workplace. I'm a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) and my experience helps me to offer my leaners a very personalized tuition service that gets results. I have worked with professionals at Amazon, Carrefour, H&M, Deutsche Bank and Mercedes-Benz to name just a few.

I’m also a very patient tutor and have a very good understanding of the difficulties that come with developing language skills. I've learned another language myself and have worked as a coach with Read Easy UK to help British adults who left school with limited reading and writing skills.

Perhaps the most important thing to say is that I'm a very friendly teacher and students find me fun and easy to work with. I look forward to meeting you!

Tutoring Experience

• Starter to Advanced levels (A1-C1 of the Common European Framework)
• Business English and Professional Skills
• ESOL and Functional English / Adult Literacy
• Exams (Cambridge First, Advanced)

Tutoring Approach

Learner preferences are always taken into account and we’ll of course work together to find methods that work best for you.

In my experience, one of the most effective ways to develop your English is through extended tasks which involve problem solving. They not only help you to bring all of your language and skills together in real-life situations, but they can help us to find out your strengths and weaknesses more easily. We can then focus on those specific areas of difficulty to help you improve.

Every class has a clear learning objective and after each session you will be given a feedback sheet with vocabulary, error corrections and phonemic script to help you with any pronunciation difficulties.