教師

Teacher Mark

I was born and grew up in the South East of England, not far from London. I have been living in Osaka with my wife and two children since 1999.

I studied History at Durham University and then trained as a Primary (Elementary) school teacher. After this I decided that I would like to teach overseas, which I have been doing since then. Most of my English teaching experience has been in Japan including 10 years with Tony B at the British Council Osaka Centre. I also have a Cambridge Celta qualification and have completed Module 1 of the Cambridge Delta, and plan to complete the study in 2016.

In addition to teaching adults, I love teaching children and I also have a special interest in IELTS. Whatever level or age I am teaching, I think it’s important to create a relaxed atmosphere in the classroom and have some fun. But I also think that to learn a language you need to use the language, so in all my classes I try to give students opportunities to use English in a meaningful way.

When I have some free time I enjoy playing with my daughters. I also like reading books about travel and history as well as books about Japan.

My tip for learning English successfully is to take opportunities to use new grammar and vocabulary. Don’t worry too much about making mistakes – mistakes are important for your learning!

— Mark

Teacher Tony B

Hi everyone!

I was born in Wales in the UK, but in my life I have moved around a lot. I lived in many areas of the UK including Manchester and London. I also spent time overseas in Australia, Germany and five years in Spain before coming to Japan.

I came to Japan in 2000 and worked for the British Council Osaka Centre as a teacher and teacher trainer for almost 10 years. In October 2010, I opened UKPLUS Osaka. Although I have been teaching English since 1994 and have several teaching qualifications (Cambridge Celta and Delta, MA TESOL from Manchester University), I believe that teachers never stop developing their skills and must continue reflecting on their teaching in order to improve.

My goal is to continue to build a reputation for UKPLUS as a place which encourages professional development for the teachers and creates opportunities for all learners to achieve their goals. Despite all the other things I have to do, I still love teaching!

In my free time I love playing with my two kids, cooking, photography and camping whenever possible. Also, I love learning more about Japan and Japanese people.

My advice to improve your English? Come to UKPLUS, of course!

— Tony B.

Teacher Tony W

Hello there!

I was born in London and grew up in the South East of England. I have lived and worked in many places including Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Since 2010, I have lived in Nishinomiya with my wife.

Before I became an English teacher, I had a long and successful career in investment banking but I decided to leave banking and become a teacher in 2010. I then took my Celta certificate at the British Council in Singapore. Last year I completed my Cambridge Delta qualification. I have worked at UKPLUS Osaka since it opened in 2010 and am enjoying my second career very much.

I have a relaxed teaching style which is always student-centred. I love the variety of people that we meet in our classrooms and I love helping people to develop their language skills and meet their personal and professional goals.

In my free time I used to play a lot of football but these days I enjoy travelling to new places in Japan, reading and listening to music. I enjoy looking around antique shops for interesting objects and I’m also interested in the origin of English words. I believe that reading books can really help your language learning. You can learn new vocabulary, notice the grammar of English and even improve your spelling. Reading books is a great way to pass the time on your train journey every day!

— Tony W.

Teacher Trina

Although I was born in the north of England, I lived overseas in various countries until I was about 10 years old. My father was in the Royal Air Force so we moved every two or three years. I think these experiences made me love traveling and seeing new places and new cultures.

I have been teaching in Japan for over 30 years. I have worked in many different schools but I started out working at Yamaha English School. I worked first as a teacher of Young Learners and later as a teacher-trainer. Working with children, my main focus was on phonics and literacy. I enjoyed helping children to become proficient (very good) readers and to develop a love of books, stories, and storytelling.

For the past 20 years, I have been closely involved with JALT ( the Japan Association of Language Teaching) developing and learning new skills to bring into the classroom. I also write graded readers. I have written books on life skills for Halico and books on global issues for Abax Japan. I am currently the editor of Xreading News.

When I have free time I like reading, writing and meeting friends. Students can significantly improve their English by reading a lot of books written at the appropriate level. Read! Read! Read!

— Trina