At the age of eight, we suddenly discovered that English had become one of our subjects at school.
I later realised that our teachers held university degrees. I suspect there must have been political reasons for this, as teaching at a primary school with a university degree was rarely a matter of personal choice.
In any case, we enjoyed our lessons, and many of us began taking private English lessons at the same time.
A few years later, apart from the attraction of Western European culture, our main motivation for learning English was the desire to understand the lyrics of Beatles songs. We organised small parties during the week and danced to their music.
Later, several language schools opened and we continued our English studies there.
As a young doctor, I was eager to pursue postgraduate training, but opportunities were extremely limited. With the help of my supervisors at the time, I managed to arrange a few weeks in London on my own initiative. It was against the rules, but I didn’t care.
I was offered opportunities to stay longer, but I was reluctant to leave Hungary, fearing that my decision might damage the professional careers of my father and brother.
I was already in my fifties when I finally had the opportunity to work as a doctor in the UK.
Suddenly, I found myself having to communicate with patients, make telephone calls and write letters in English. It was far from easy. I quickly realised the enormous difference between being a visitor and being a member of staff. People spoke to me as though I were a native speaker.
My name is Steve Newsome, I am a learning facilitator-coach, based in the north of England.
I have successfully supported international professionals in their language and communication skill improvement, for over 20 years, working locally, nationally, abroad and of course, online.
Adam Brunyee is a professional English teacher from the UK now living in Cambodia.
He gave me considerable help with proofreading my texts and giving professional advice.
This experience made me realise just how crucial clear pronunciation and appropriate intonation are to effective communication.
And that was how the idea for a website like this first came to me.
