Andrew

Información de viaje

Ahora estoy

Descripción

I feel I have been fortunate to have lived and worked all over the world, initially with my parents as a young child, [they worked throughout Asia]. I followed their 'nomadic' lifestyle myself as an adult working all over the world as an architect. I now have seven different driving licences...!
Seeing, and in particular living in so many countries with diversely different cultures has, I feel, helped me to have a better understanding of people in general and their different ways of life.
I also taught English as a second language for 7 years and was fortunate to have worked for a school on the Gold Coast in Australia that was rated, one year, as the best in the southern hemisphere.

Whilst at university I worked as a lifeguard to help pay for my studies, I also worked as a swimming instructor in the USA working with Camp America. I also helped coach my children's swimming club team and my son's football club team for many years. Both my children did gap years overseas, following in our nomadic desire to see the world. My daughter went to Wales to work in a boarding school and my son went, through the 'Rotary Club', to Oaxaca in Mexico for a year back in 2012. Part of that 'deal' was to host other Rotary students ourselves. We have been doing that now, off and on since then, hosting dozens of students from South America, Canada, Europe and more recently from Asia, mainly Hong Kong, Japan & China.

I think it was seeing a 74-year-old man from Chile, who had sadly just lost his wife, come to our school in Australia, with absolutely no English at all, and to see what he achieved in just 3 months that really inspired me to want to learn a language too.....Spanish!

You ask me what I love and I would have to say in my younger days it was sports but now it has to be travel, art [urban sketching] and ... keeping my brain busy & functioning! I found the Colombian students at the school to be some of the most friendly and carefree people I have ever met, and I have now had two 3-month stints in Colombia trying to learn & improve my Spanish ... and salsa!

About 8 years ago I eventually persuaded my wife to travel to Spain & France. We ended up there for 20 months, including 61 weeks of house-sitting through a company called trustedhousesitters.com. I taught English voluntarily for 8 months in a language school whilst in SE Spain.
We also took our dog [from Australia] so you will note we are animal lovers too! In hindsight, we were so lucky to do our 'walkabout' [as the Aussies call it] because a few years later both Brexit & Covid made that 'dream' an impossible one for any Brit...! Thank you Brexit !!

I also love sports and, in my youth, played cricket, rugby, football, golf & tennis. Nowadays, I swim for exercise and have taken up pickleball and padel tennis.

So, my dream for now, whilst healthy [touch-wood] is to continue to meet people, enjoy the history, architecture and culture of Europe or S. America with the goal of also trying to improve my Spanish whilst helping others improve their English. Sounds like a good dream to me!

PS - I have never smoked or taken drugs.

Intereses

Mascotas

Dibujo y pintura

Fotografía

Idiomas

Animales

Deportes de aventura

Deportes de equipo

Baile

Arte y diseño

Arquitectura

Idiomas

Idiomas hablados
Inglés: Fluido
Español: Intermedio
Francés: Principiante

Más información sobre tus intereses idiomáticos
Espanol [google translate .. no mi!] Muchísimo... Enseñando inglés y aprendiendo español He viajado mucho, he acumulado mucha experiencia en todo el mundo y ahora tengo siete carnets de conducir. Tengo un certificado TESOL y di clases en una escuela de idiomas de gran prestigio en Australia como profesora titular durante siete u ocho años. Antes de dar clases, trabajé como arquitecta en Australia, Bermudas, Canadá, Emiratos Árabes Unidos, Omán y Brunéi. Puse mi nivel de español como "intermedio", pero, para ser sincera, creo que es "preintermedio" [no quería poner "principiante", ya que eso a menudo parece decir "¡no sabe decir nada!"]. Tengo una clase semanal en línea con una profesora nicaragüense y dice que mi vocabulario es bueno, pero mi gramática es débil, y soy la primera en admitir que... ¡demasiadas terminaciones verbales! Fui a Colombia hace dos años para intentar sumergirme en el mundo del español y mi sueño es volver a visitar algún lugar de Centroamérica o Sudamérica este año... Toda la semana participo en un grupo de conversación en español con varios hispanohablantes nativos, y es muy divertido... solo hablamos español. Si te interesa un intercambio de idiomas, contáctame, por favor. English Very much so ... Teaching English & Learning Spanish I am well-travelled, with lots of life experiences from around the world and now have 7 driving license's. I have a TESOL certificate and taught at a very well reputed language school in Australia as a Senior teacher for 7-8 years. Before teaching I worked as an architect in Australia, Bermuda, Canada, UAE, Oman & Brunei. I put my Spanish level as 'intermediate' but to be honest, I feel it is 'pre-intermediate' [I didn't want to put beginner, as that often seems to say ... "he can't say a thing!"]. I have a weekly online lesson with a Nicaraguan 'profesora' and she says my vocab is good, but my grammar is weak and I am the first to admit that..... too many verb endings...! I went to Colombia two years ago to try and immerse myself and my dream is to visit somewhere in Central or South America again this year... I go to a weekly Spanish conversation group every week which includes a number of native Spanish speakers and that is a lot of fun.... speaking Spanish only. If you are interested in a language exchange, please contact me.

Buscar un colega de idioma

Habilidades y conocimientos que quiero compartir o aprender

Me interesa:  

Cuidado de casas y mascotas

Proyectos artísticos

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Puedo enseñar:  

Enseñanza

Idiomas

Que habilidades tienes?

I am a retired Architect. I qualified from the University of Brighton many moons ago!

I also have a TESOL teaching qualification and as a Senior teacher at the school was also responsible for organizing activities, including games, bingo, quizes etc
As well as teaching all levels I also taught the Business English class for many years.

I have/had a grade 1 football goalkeeping coaching certificate from the USA.
I was also a competitive swimmer at school, having learnt growing up in Asia. As an adult, I helped coach the swimming team both my children swam for in Bermuda.
I would be very comfortable passing on my skills in both those sports plus golf [I had a handicap of 8 back in the day] and tennis to learners of these sports.

Edad

66

Algo más...

Enjoy all board games, scrabble, ludo, bingo, cards, outdoor made-up fun games etc.. Even used to play some mayhjong as a teenager!

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