Profile

I always wanted to write a useful book. At the age of eight I spent many hours trying to simplify motor mechanics into a small user-friendly book. But with time reality took over. My dream seemed to disappear as school, sports, university,career and family took over. However my love of language, of words and all their subtle meanings was never lost to me.

I took my A-Levels at Downside School and, after spending my gap year in Israel, achieved an Honours Degree in Politics and a PGCE in Sport and History at Hull University before falling into a career as a teacher. After a short spell in Wrexham and Canterbury, I then went on an exchange to the Stiftung Louisenlund in Germany which turned into a ten year love affair with the German language.

Graciously the head master let me study German on a part-time basis at Kiel University. I then moved on and took and passed my TEFL exam while living in France. While studying for this exam it suddenly became clear to me that the key to success in speaking and therefore understanding another language lay in understanding ones own language. Simple learning is not enough; understanding a language is the key. The problem is that this understanding must come from the heart, from your own language. You must be equally „at home“ in both English and German.

Confronted with teaching English as a foreign language at a language school, it soon became clear to me that the key to understanding English must lie in understanding German. A German-speaking language student can only take English into his or her heart using his or her own language. The e-nglishdirect system was born. Working together with students at various companies I further developed this system. After all nobody really has time to sit down and learn a language. Pressed for time but needing results to turn „Denglish“ into competent business English I developed a system using „key words“ to help my students think and correct themselves while speaking. With time the scaffolding could be removed to reveal a strong, ever improving English. Ever improving because all my students can always refer back to their own language if in doubt.

The e-nglishdirect system helps you to know you are right during a conversation.

Between 2001 and 2010 I further developed this system. I finally gave time a shapecreating gear changing. My latest book "Englisch - doch das kannst du" ia a clearly structured systematic approach to move from Denglisch to English.

top