I'm a popular, experienced and highly qualified teacher of English as a foreign language, holding CELTA, a master's degree and a PhD in linguistics. I'm a former director of a respected English-language school in Krakow, a post to which I was promoted after just three years.

All the essential components of language learning - pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar - are treated equally in my lessons, and a fundamental principle I follow is "learning through speaking". This means that when you learn new vocabulary, for example, you'll have the opportunity to use it in a conversation with me, which helps you not only "learn" the new word, but also ensures it becomes part of your active vocabulary.

I have a special understanding of the particular difficulties that Polish people (and speakers of closely related languages) have with English (for example "a" and "the", "another" and "the other", "there's" and "there are", and the use of tenses) and I have effective, tried and tested methods for dealing with these problems. Here "learning through speaking" is also essential; you will acquire grammatical principles through speaking rather than traditional, boring exercises.

If you want a teacher who focusses on ALL your mistakes when you're speaking (and you should - how else will you learn?) then look no further. I use the principle of self-correction - I'll tell you something's wrong, but you must correct the mistake yourself.

I have experience teaching general English, as well as business and medical. I've successfully prepared students for IELTS and the Cambridge exams. All the learners I have prepared for C2 Proficiency have achieved an A or B grade.

I know Polish better than the vast majority of native English speakers in Krakow (level C2) and in addition to teaching English I'm also a professional translator (Polish to English) and proofreader of English texts, specialising in both cases in academic writing.