Teacher James Balderson's Page

Language Skills

  • English (UK): Native

Interests


Price (25 min):

12.50 Coins Book Sessions

* This price is for free conversation lessons.

Rating & Experience:

(4.94)
7273 sessions 2262 Ratings Cancellations: 82 No-show: 17

Introduction:

Building rapport, making students feel comfortable and willing to talk. Detailed error correction.

Hi! I'm James or "Jim", if you prefer? I come from England and I am half English, half Irish - so, I guess that makes me totally British!? I left England in March 2009 and have so far only been back there twice to visit my family and friends. I now live and work in Baguio, Philippines.

I had two spells in China. I lived in Hefei, Anhui province, from March 2009 to July 2015, where I worked in a boarding school, a language school and a university. I have worked with all ages of students, from kindergarten to adult learners. I have also worked with all ability levels, from absolute beginners to advanced learners. I much prefer working with adult learners, however, and that's just one reason why Skimatalk is so perfect for me!

From July 2015 to June 2019, I was also living in Baguio, Philippines. My wife is from The Philippines. During that time, I worked from home, full-time, online, both for Skimatalk and an online school, called "Anglophone", based in Almeria, in the south of Spain. After a slow start, I eventually became one of the most successful Skimatalk teachers and, even now, despite my limited availability, I am still the ninth most booked Skimatalk teacher of all time!

I returned to China in June 2019, and have recently quit my job, teaching full-time at Yuncheng University, Shanxi province, in Northern China. I was working with first and second year English and Business English majors. So, overall, I now have almost fourteen years of teaching experience. Before becoming an English teacher, I had a business background in financial services and marketing, making me an appropriate teacher for several Skimatalk teachers, who wish to focus on Business English.

I am also an author and I'm working on an autobiography right now, entitled "High Functioning Faith". I am a big believer in speaking grammatically accurate and natural English. I specialize in providing detailed error correction feedback and I will notice a number of minor mistakes which other teachers will, perhaps, simply ignore.

I prefer not to interrupt students when they are speaking. Twenty-five minutes is not such a long period of time and I think that students should speak as much as possible during a session. I will only interrupt if I cannot understand what you are saying. Otherwise, I will make copious notes on a separate Word document and offer some specific feedback after the session.

Free conversation seems to be considered my specialty, although that is not to suggest I am unable to teach several other types of lessons. My wife and I recently bought a new computer and there are now, thankfully, no real internet issues here either.

I look forward to talking to you!

Cheers!

Jim.

Teaching Specialty:

Everyday English › Free Conversation

I use a variety of teaching material from different sources, in particular www.breakingnewsenglish.com and www.linguahouse.com - I am quite capable, however, of conducting genuinely free spontaneous conversations without the need for any pre-prepared material.

Résumé:

Education:
1990 - 1994
Liverpool Hope University College
Education › English Literature and French (Bachelor)
Work Experience:
2001 - 2003
Mercer HR Consulting Financial Service
Sales / Customer Support
I provided administrative support within a teamwork context, taking care of the administration of a number of defined benefit, final salary pension schemes, on behalf of several corporate clients.
2004 - 2006
Prospect Connect Business Administration and Support Service
Corporate Planning / Business Development
I worked on a number of different telemarketing/telesales projects, on behalf of both private and public sector clients, developing their business by data cleansing and also the generation of qualified sales appointments.
2007 - 2009
Hornbuckle Mitchell Trustees Limited Financial Service
Sales / Customer Support
I was responsible for all aspects of administration of over a hundred clients, each of whom had a SIPP (self-invested personal pension). My duties included buying stocks and shares on their behalf, placing other investments and purchasing commercial property etc.
Certifications:
2002
TEFL
I successfully completed my ESL teacher training, at The Advanced Institute in Barcelona.

Rating

Overall: 4.94

Teaching Skill
4.95 (/ 5.00)
Feedback
4.97 (/ 5.00)
Enthusiasm
4.96 (/ 5.00)
Punctuality
4.97 (/ 5.00)
Voice/Video Clarity
4.84 (/ 5.00)

Comments by Students

Availability: