All Episodes
The Free Talk Staffroom — 134 episodes
Don’t take it personally…
Lessons from a walk down Yasukuni Dori
The downside of teaching English in Japan and what to do about it
Re-thinking our school’s website
Using this summer to re-evaluate what we do
30-second lesson: Entertain and inform
Should you ever refuse to teach a misbehaving kid?
Don't let teaching limit you
Tech in teaching: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should
A little known advantage of teaching for yourself
The culture shock of working for yourself in Japan
Some help with how to teach children to read English
Make a 5-year plan
You don't have to be an expert
It gets easier
Are you ready for the next stages of your journey?
That time I almost became a university lecturer but was glad I didn’t…
Don’t be an eikaiwa teacher for more than six months?
Kids or adults — who are better to teach?
Don’t discount your prices, do this instead
A year's worth of EFL lessons for adults for free
The strength (and weakness) of one
113. What you can do THIS VERY MOMENT to boost business as a self-employed English teacher in Japan
112. Three threats to English teaching in Japan (and what to do about them)
111. What's your number?
110. A pep talk for folk who don’t fit in
20 years of teaching English in Japan in 60 seconds
108. Why you should work in a crappy job before going it alone
107. The right frame of mind to teach English in Japan
106. Do you need qualifications to teach English privately in Japan?
105. Where you can find more students
104. Teaching English for yourself to reach your dream salary - the numbers
103. Hopes for the New Year
102. I'm off the booze
101. Count the ways to beat burnout as an English teacher in Japan
100. Two things you should do while you're living it up as a self-employed teacher in Japan
99. Should you copy or be original in your teaching?
98. What’s the status of English teachers in Japan?
97. The Napoleon Bonaparte approach to teaching English
Three new TEFL textbooks for adult beginners
95. Why I'm wary of using AI in English teaching in Japan… and maybe you should be too
94. How I use AI to teach English
93. How long does it take to prepare for a day of teaching?
92. Remembering Matthew Dons
91. How to do level checks
90. Why I've started teaching English on Sundays
89. Is this how you want to spend your life?
88. How we did our annual speech day this year
87. Start where you are, and you might surprise yourself where you end up
86. Questions over how best to use our first employee
85. I've just published Free Talk Business 1-3 English courses for Japanese students
84. The weirdest English lessons I've ever taught
83. The real story of how I came to teach English in Japan
82. Two tips to get your English school off the ground
81. Are you finding teaching English stressful? Here's a simple idea to set you free
80. A day in the life of a self-employed English teacher in Japan
79. Teaching English in this age of nationalism — or how Trump is affecting the business
78. Stuck in low-wage English teaching? Time to start your own school
77. A new dawn for my business? We just hired a (Japanese) English teacher
76. The secret to running a successful English school in Japan for the long run
75. It's the self-employed bit of "self-employed English teacher in Japan" that is the superpower
74. Sheer terror or mild interest? How to think about AI in English teaching
73. Why teach concepts in English folk don't know in Japanese? And why not?
72. How teaching English is a subscription business
71. Are you here for the long term?
70. How can you get more private students by teaching at kindergartens and the like?
69. An English school in a box
68. How to use QR codes to teach Japanese kids to read English
67. A brand new course for adults...
Are you free tonight? Come say hello in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo
65. You gotta love Valentines... for English schools
64. New students — it’s all about the birds and the bees
61. Time to get your act together
60. Lovely to see you at the Expo yesterday
Come say hello this Saturday
59. Have you thought about running your own speech day?
58. Do you really want to be a one-trick pony?
57. Why I teach.
56. Reasons to become a self-employed English teacher even if you have your doubts…
55. Adapt to survive ... aka know which hill is worth dying on (most of them aren't)
54. Alternative ways to make money when you are a self-employed teacher in Japan
53. The secret to teaching English as a foreign language
52. Do you need a TEFL certificate?
51. Do you know when to call it quits?
50. You're better off saying 'yes'
49. Do you feel trapped teaching English in Japan?
48. Age discrimination? Don’t box yourself in
47. Sometimes you have to say ‘no’
46. What are the pros of teaching English in Japan for yourself?
45. Is it racist to prefer to be taught a language by a native speaker? A few thoughts
44. What’s life really like as a self-employed English teacher in Japan?
43. What to do when a new student says they just want to improve their English conversation
42. Who are your best students?
41. Career progression for the self-employed English teacher in Japan
40. Why you shouldn't be a self-employed English teacher in Japan
39. How to upload your completed textbook to Amazon
38. How to publish your own English textbooks in Japan
37. A different future as a self-employed English teacher in Japan
36. A tour of a self-employed English teacher's school in Japan
35. How do you teach an online English lesson?: 10 low-tech, no preparation tips to get started
34. Why I like this time of year, and something to get your kids writing in the New Year
33. The Sherriff theory of value, AKA the shepherd’s pie model of business
32. How to get teens to enjoy reading books in English
31. All the best ideas come in the shower
30. Who am I? And why am I here?
29. Could you 10x your English teaching business?
28. How badly do you want it?
27. A trip back to Britain, and what it taught me about teaching English in Japan
26. How can you use social media to get more students?
25. Should you make friends with your students?
24. Mr Shiawase and the 50-50 rule of teaching
23. Finding your own way in teaching
22. The mindset you need to be a self-employed English teacher in Japan
21. Teaching English in Japan - my origin story
20. How many weeks do you have off a year?
19. The most dangerous number in a teaching business
18. Why I use a textbook to teach English
17. Thoughts about business models and teaching
16. Thoughts on just because it's easy, doesn't mean it's worthless
15. Thoughts on why your school needs a newsletter
14. What to do when a student quits
13. The secret to thriving as a self-employed English teacher
12. You just have to be a bit above average, that's all
11. Why I don't give students homework
10. The only 12 grammar rules you need for teaching English
9. My three biggest mistakes as a self-employed English teacher
8. How much should you charge for your English lessons?
7. So, how exactly do you teach an English lesson?
6. The good news about bad English chain schools in Japan
5. Why I don’t teach exam English
4. Five myths about teaching English in Japan you should ignore
3. Who wants to be a self-employed English teacher in Japan?
2. Where do you get your first students from?
1. Why have a plan?