Samuel Joseph
My Qualifications
I am a TEFL Level 5 Certified English Teacher (Teaching English as a Foreign Language – Accreditation No: 603/3954/8) and qualified in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System).
Hello! I am Samuel Joseph, your English teacher
I know you are here because you want to know more about me. So, welcome!
A Passion for English
What I currently do
I’ve been teaching English since 2016; and in October 2020, I set up as a private, self-employed (autónomo) teacher in País Vasco, literally the Basque Country – Euskadi, Spain.
I currently coach and teach A2, B1, B2 and C1 level students (Cambridge, Oxford – (OxBridge) and the Common European Framework based levels) both in a Group form and on a One-to One basis in Gipuzkoa.
My approach is to develop all the 4 skills – Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking simultaneously during a class session. My student base consists of school and higher education students, professional adults, a local townhall and a private sector company.
During the pandemic restrictions, I conducted some virtual classes using Google Meet and some “in-person” classes with classroom or a learning space provided to me, and at company premises in the case of company employee students.
In addition to my existing student base, I am looking to expand my “in-person” classes to most of the Basque Country and my “on-line” classes to as far as South East Asia taking advantage of the time zones, tech developments and of course during the COVID-19 situations across our globe.
For me, “every challenge has been an opportunity” … a way of life I often endure.
My Journey
From the UK to Spain
Since moving to Spain in December 2015 to join my better half, soul mate and best friend – Maria Lourdes, a relationship, and a bonding of some sort of over 25 years, I gave up my Accounting profession and the busy fast life of London to being an English language teacher in Spain.
I embarked in this new profession in 2016 working part time for a Language Academy in Spain, coaching students for the Cambridge English Language exams – FCE, CAE and Proficiency levels.
Apart from that, I was an active participant at “intercambios” – Language Exchange Meetups on regular Fridays at the Tabakalera cultural center, San Sebastian until the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions hit us in March 2020.
Previously in London, UK
- Over 25 years of experience in Administration and Accounting.
- Setup and managed Accounting systems and departments for various private sector companies such as Multinational corporates, SME’s, and NGOs in London since 1991.
- Worked as Finance Manager / Financial Controller for “Startup” companies, SME’s, and NGOs between 2002 and 2015.
The Past, Present & Future
Speaking in tenses not only helps me to take stock on life’s experiences, but also puts perspective to how I can best serve those who reach out to me now, but for the future.
What do I contextually mean? Simply sharing my life’s experiences, both personally and professionally, in acquiring a fair degree of proficiency in using and speaking the English language, whether be “informally” or “formally” with those who find English language learning a “real” challenge nevertheless reaching out to “greater” opportunities, just like I did.
My Past
Talking about the past, my early primary schooling (from the late 60’s to the mid 70’s) in the then Island of Ceylon, and Tamil being my mother tongue, was politically dictated to be the medium of learning all subjects in that language and so I did.
My late father, Leslie Joseph (a Chartered Electrical Engineer – FIEE UK & Australia) and my late Mother, Lily Joseph (a Nursing Sister) at that time were very much discouraged with this idea of Tamil being the medium of learning a school curriculum, one that was never to be a future filled with opportunities, considering whatever political limitations that then prevailed on the Island.
My late Father then secured an International contract on a World Bank project attached to the Central African Power Corporation in Zambia-Zimbabwe, and in 1976 we begun life in Zambia making English our first language and the medium of learning.
Part of my education (between the 70’s – 80’s) had been between Zambia, India, and the UK.
My higher secondary education was in a Catholic private school run by the Brothers of St. Patrick (The Patrician Brothers of Ireland) and some of my tertiary education was with the Jesuits of St. Ignatius Loyola, India and subsequently my professional Accountancy studies in the late 80’s with the Zimco Institute of Management and the Zambia Association of Certified Accountants.
I started work in Zambia in 1987 for a Chartered Certified Firm of Accountants – Renco Associates, Lusaka an affiliate of the Irish Development Corporation for Zambia.
Later in 1989, I moved to London, UK to start life yet again “seeking better opportunities” and had started work with Mark McCormack’s Group of Management Companies (IMG UK Ltd & IMG Europe) in January 1991 as a Client Financial Executive.
The rest is “history” to which I attribute the learning and the use of English I so gained over the many years in all of the 4 SKILLS – Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking both on a personal and professional level to fluently understand, comprehend and possess a “gift of the gab” – I take to English like duck to water.