I graduated from the Southampton Solent University as a mature student after studying towards a BA (Hons) International Business in 2005. I achieved a respectable 2:1 despite having to juggle between parenting, full-time studies, and part-time work. After graduating and successfully completing three stressful years of academic studies, I set about looking for employment.

Prior to my academic studies, I was fortunate to have served within the Royal Air Force, so I returned to the Armed Forces Careers Centre but they were unwilling to employ me at the time. I spent the next three months searching for full-time employment. I tried my hand at sales work but found myself out of my depth and not necessarily willing, so walked out the same day I had started. Round the corner from RAF Odiham, where I had been based previously, I was interviewed for a job involved in the air industry but again this was unsuccessful.

Finally, after much discussion with my wife, I wanted to try to find employment in my wife’s country of birth, so we decided to head to South Korea together. I attended a short weekend intensive course on teaching English as a foreign language in preparation and hit the job boards. It came as a complete surprise that I was hired almost immediately as an English teacher for a private academy and was over the moon, after months of having little to no success within the UK job market.

We packed all our worldly possessions and went to South Korea with no idea what to expect. I visited a small town the same day I had arrived, with my wife nudging me whenever I looked a little tired during the interview/meeting, despite the 20 hours of flying indirect, to sign a twelve-month employment contract to start a not too long afterwards.

My initial experiences in the classroom

I had very little in terms of qualifications other than a weekend course on TEFL and my undergraduate degree. Needless to say, I felt completely overwhelmed when I was guided to my classroom and told immediately that I would be teaching the same day without any induction or orientation. I stuck at it for 12 months before I decided to confirm my suitability for teaching by taking the four week intensive CELTA course in Seoul at the British Council in January 2007. I was interviewed and then completed the course successfully.

I spent three years teaching English in South Korea, after completing the CELTA and then changed jobs to work for an adult private language institute, Wall Street English. I was offered the opportunity to undertake some examining work with Cambridge Examinations as well as involved in teacher management.

Returning to the UK

After three splendid years in South Korea, I returned to the UK with family and pursued an English teaching career. I felt completely out of depth and decided to continue my professional development by completing a one year full-time MA in English Language Teaching (now called the MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL) at the University of Sussex in 2010 to 2011. Fortunately, I graduated and my research focused on teacher uptake on Teaching Unplugged. I felt greater confidence when teaching English and was able to refine my skills.

I spent the next eight years working for a private language institute in Eastbourne, gaining further teaching qualifications, such as the Trinity Young Learner’s Certificate (TYLEC), and getting more involved within the teaching of young learners.

Recording videos for YouTube

During my teaching in the UK, I decided to start recording videos on YouTube. I used an old camera that my brother-in-law gave me and then gave that up by using my iPhone. Initially the videos were absolutely terrible, with poor audio quality but I learned a great deal about video editing and structuring videos. The most popular videos that I shared on my YouTube Channel, were about the CELTA course or clips from my lessons. While I was starting to dive into video and content creation, I was asked to provide a teacher training workshop to prepare teachers for the busiest period of a UK language school – the summer. I requested that the workshop be recorded so that I could share this on my YouTube Channel for those that were unable to attend.

I spent weeks editing this video and adding the slides from my workshop to the video. It turned out to be my most popular video and gained some interest from other teachers, and currently has over 70,000 views. After sharing over 200 videos about English language teaching, whether face-to-face or online, my Channel has now over 17,000 subscribers.

More Than A Gap Year Adventure

In the summer of 2023, I was approached by Martin Hajek, of TEFL in Colombia, to contribute to a wonderful publication whereby English teachers share their personal experiences of making English language teaching – otherwise known as TEFL – a lifelong career. It was such an honour to be approached to share my insight into video and content creation for the book.

The book, “More Than A Gap Year Adventure”, documents over 20 individual careers and experiences of professional English language teachers, which is nothing to be sniffed at. As Martin Hajek details in his post about the book, it illustrates to those that suggest TEFL, which is regarded as something that people do while travelling or finding themselves during a gap year in their twenties, can actually be a career people can pursue. Some notable authors include the following:

• Peter Clements who shares some insight into the world of blogging
• Sandy Millin who details her experiences and benefits of attending conferences
• Joanna Hebel who describes her reasons for becoming a freelancer
• Walton Burns who shares his experience of self-publishing

There are many more authors and essays included within the book, where people share their thoughts about particular areas. I was particularly struck by how broad the book is and how many people Martin Hajek has managed to persuade that they contribute.

The book is aimed to inspire teachers on areas of professional development within the English language teaching industry and to share the various personal anecdotes and stories for the reader. It also highlights the criticism that the EFL industry receives, as many consider this profession to be merely something that one does during their gap year – hence the title.

Anyhow, a huge thank you to Martin Hajek for asking me to contribute to your publication as I found it completely rewarding to share my insight and recommendations of creating video content within the English language teaching field. There is also a sample of the publication below.

So, what are you waiting for, order the book on Amazon today!