We are really fortunate to have Kerry McEwan on this Christian TEFL team. As well as possessing an in-depth knowledge of all things TEFL and a love of grammar – yes, really! Kerry is about the most enthusiastic tutor a trainee could hope for. We asked Kerry to tell us more about herself and share her TEFL journey…

“I first became aware of, and interested in, the world of TEFL/TESOL when I was still at primary school when I watched my unqualified mum helping some ladies who’d just moved to England from India, get to grips with their first English – and a very good job she did too.

As I grew up, I found that not only did I have a love for learning different languages but a keen interest in language itself, studying linguistics as the subsidiary to my Latin degree at Canterbury University.

After several years of working in the commercial field before leaving to have and look after my two children, I decided that I really wanted to get back to language, particularly TESOL. So, I trained initially in Canterbury, England, 20 years ago, gaining an A-grade CELTA and I have been teaching ever since. I have gained a wide range of distance learning experience and completed many bolt-on courses, including a specialist certificate in English grammar, a specialised phonetics certificate, Business English, one to one teaching, vocabulary teaching, how to teach grammar, classroom management and teaching young learners.

Some of these courses were through Global English so I know the courses and will have total empathy with my trainees! I have taught EFL in a wide variety of situations, all in the UK, including Business English, one to one, mixed and monolingual classes of both adults and young learners. I also wrote the Advanced Grammar course for Global English.

The last few years have seen me focusing on on-line teaching and telephone teaching, the hours of which combined well with bringing up my two children in Kent in the South East of England. One of them is now in the world of work and the other about to start at Uni, my alma mater in fact.

As a family, we all enjoy music. My son is an amazing ‘cellist and pianist and I also teach clarinet, recorder and saxophone. We share a love of rodents, especially guinea pigs and hamsters.

We are also a Christian family. I and both children are all confirmed and we have Christian principles very much at the heart of our daily lives.

If I am your tutor, I look forward to working with you on your TESOL course!

Thank you, Kerry!