Catherine Brown

Background

About Catherine Brown

I've been working in the ESL industry since 2015 and I have taught English to a wide range of ages and language abilities in many different contexts. I have also worked as a teacher trainer and I am a trained Cambridge Examiner for B1, C1 and C2 levels. I have experience in- planning and creating courses - teaching students from 4 years old to 80 years old - teaching Cambridge Exam Preparation courses, General English courses and Business English courses - training teachers, doing observations and providing feedback I started my journey in 2015 with my English degree and 120-hour TEFL certificate in hand. The first two years of my ESL career were spent in Southeast Asia. I taught at international schools and language schools in Cambodia and Vietnam. In Vietnam, I was also the head teacher of my centre which meant I had additional responsibilities such as being the go-between for teachers and upper management as well as onboarding new teachers and guiding them by observing their lessons and providing them with useful feedback. Over and above these responsibilities, I attended training sessions and planned workshops with my group of teachers. After returning to South Africa, I started teaching English online. I taught young Chinese learners as well as adults during this time. The adult classes were accessible to anyone anywhere in the world which meant I had a unique and enriching experience of teaching people from all corners of the globe, from South America to Mongolia. This experience is not only valuable for my teaching but also for my understanding of the world as an individual. While I was teaching online, I was also working as a teacher trainer for the TEFL Academy. I was responsible for running their 20-hour in-class weekend course in which we ran through all the basics of teaching from how to teach language and skills to understanding English grammar and how to teach it. This all came to an end once I decided to move to Italy at the end of 2021. Initially, I worked at a Cambridge exam preparation centre. Now I am currently working as a learning coordinator in Southern Italy where I teach, prepare corporate lessons and work as the director of studies at the school's yearly summer camp.