Janine Bray-Mueller, Author, Semi-Retired Freelance Teacher, Teacher Trainer and Motivational Speaker
Me once more, giving a PowerPoint presentation at the Annual TESOL conference in Paris
Teaching English has been my business and passion, and I’ve been successfully freelancing for around 30 years – in Brussels, Belgium and near Hamburg, Germany.
Meanwhile, I decided to share my marketing knowledge by writing a series of books giving practical advice to teaching freelancers. These books are not restricted to pedagogical and academic subjects. I wrote them to help colleagues in their teaching careers find students and earn enough to live from their work.
The experience gained from working in the sales and marketing departments and a completed two-term voluntary member of the IATEFL Executive Marketing Committee contributed to avoiding what I call the three-year death cycle of freelance teaching businesses. That is to say, I thrived in the freelance English language teaching market.
Meanwhile, I have given presentations at the TESOL France annual colloquiums and have published in several language teaching magazines.
I keep my mind active with my Entrepreneurial Freelance Teacher – Training activities. In addition to writing my books, I am a motivational speaker at the TESOL Annual Colloquium in Paris.
I used to think the times I lived in were not as interesting as those of my father. As a military medical doctor, he had not only travelled widely and far before the times when catching a plane was the norm, but he had witnessed the beginnings of technology that we take for granted today – the telephone, car, and television. Looking back on my life, I must observe that we live in a high-speed, exciting technological age. We’ve since flown to the moon. We’ve progressed from telexes to fax machines to Internet and Cloud facilities. For music, we have gone beyond the radio and records to CDs and DVDs, Blue Ray, online computer games and in the cinema, you duck your head when space creatures swoop past. Who knows what will come up tomorrow?
While living in Germany, a sensible job was to teach English. After all, I was a native English speaker. However, it was my only ‘teacher’ asset, and it didn’t take me long to realise this was not enough to start up a serious business. Speaking English doesn’t qualify me or anyone else to teach it. In addition, I felt insecure as a beginner teacher. How do you teach people who most likely have more qualifications than you?
I took pedagogical qualifications (the University of Cambridge’s CELTA and the CertTEB teaching certificates) for English teaching, which did wonders for my self-confidence and self-esteem as a genuinely qualified English teacher. It also proved to be a turning point in my head. I felt a rush of exhilaration. This was it!
Teaching English became my business and my passion. And I loved that nobody could fire me unless I decided to fire myself! And yet, it slowly dawned on me that this would not be enough.
You see, I had a waiting list of students. I didn’t think much about it until I received odd calls from colleagues who asked me for student referrals. Why? That one question was the impulse to write a series of books on how. I also started a new website – one to help other freelance teachers find students and earn enough to live from their work – The Entrepreneurial Freelance Teachers – Training.
Enter the reason for writing a series of books on business and marketing concepts written with language teaching freelancers in mind.
It was through sheer persistence and doggedness in the past, coupled with my knowledge of marketing (a two-term voluntary IATEFL Executive Committee Marketing and Sponsoring Member, plus a couple of jobs in the Sales and Marketing departments of companies in Brussels, Belgium, and Germany), that I became a successful and established professional English teacher, trainer, and coach. I even had a waiting list of students!
With over 30 years of experience, I believe I can help other freelance teachers achieve the same success. I can dedicate the time and energy to guiding, caring for, and encouraging all those who have become or want to become freelance teachers.
So, now you know!
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