Jane O’Brien – your host, English coach and guide
Hello dear reader,
Teaching English for me is all about helping you to communicate effectively through English. It’s about helping your to find your voice and to get your message across in a way that you can enjoy, while achieving your goals – whether that is talking to people you meet on your travels, making a presentation or negotiating a big deal. I have been teaching English for over 30 years, I have worked in language schools, colleges of further education and universities as well as a huge range of companies where I have taught countless individuals alone and in small groups. And of course I have had the pleasure of sharing my beloved West Cork with various groups on past Allround English courses.
I studied Media Communications in my hometown of Dublin and worked in media and education until I left Ireland in search of adventure. After qualifying in teaching English as a foreign language I went to one of the most exciting cities in Europe, Barcelona, and taught English there for two years.
I moved to Hamburg in 1990 and I have been teaching in companies and universities ever since. The basics of the language remain the same, yet it is constantly changing and developing and every learner, every group, every situation is different. This is why I love my job. I love listening to people’s stories. I love helping my students to find their way of expressing themselves in English, for their job or for whatever they want to achieve in this language.
My other great passion is music. I sing and write my own songs and I have performed in different bands in Ireland, Germany and Spain.
I first came to West Cork as a child on family holidays. I thought I was in a foreign country then and it is indeed a place apart. I have been coming to this beautiful and varied part of Ireland regularly now since my sister moved here nearly 20 years ago. I have fallen in love with the spectacular scenery, the colourful and cosmopolitan villages and towns, the wild Atlantic ocean and of course, best of all, the people!
I started running Allround English courses in West Cork in 2010 and since then every group that comes here forms a bond of camaraderie through learning, exploring and sharing precious time together. They even start to dream in English! I look forward to welcoming you to one of my courses, to teaching you and showing you this magical corner of Ireland.
With best wishes,
Jane
