Chris Thirkell Email & Phone Number

Born on the largest of the generally windswept and damp British Isles, I headed for warmer climes at the age of twenty-five. I briefly returned to the UK in 1989 to complete a TEFL course at the Abon Language School in Clifton, Bristol. I later obtained a CELTA certificate from Campbell College in Valencia, Spain.In the early nineties, I put my studies into practice by giving a brief English lesson in the students' cafeteria of the YWCA on South Sathorn Road, Bangkok, Thailand, when a young student shyly approached me and asked for the correct pronunciation of Michael Jackson. Being a daily visitor to the cafeteria, which provided a pleasant respite between a morning swim in the pool and a Thai language lesson in the afternoon, it was not long before I was hosting an informal English-language study group over lunch. Through a process of general conversation and answering questions, I would discover what the students needed to know and then do my best to help them along their way. That was my methodology then, and, despite having studied and practised a variety of other approaches to teaching, it remains my preferred methodology today.I now live in Valencia, Spain, where I spend my time making marmalade, collecting honey, and, whenever the opportunity presents itself, doing my best to help people find their way through the labyrinthine world of the English language.