The teachers

Darren Orr, School Manager.

Darren has over 20 years experience in the field of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). As a TEFL trainer he has delivered courses in Trinity College Dublin, specially adapted to the needs of the foreign national students studying there. He has also worked extensively abroad working with lower level students in Spain and Japan. After one year as an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan, Darren was promoted to team leader and worked closely with the Board of Education in Sayama City, devising materials and developing the teaching practices of the English teachers.

More recently Darren has worked for over 6 years as Director of Studies in ACELS (Advisory Council for English Language Schools in Ireland) accredited schools in Dublin, where his remit was not only to teach language learners, but also to train the English Language Teachers in methodology and practice. He was also responsible for developing effective learning material and curricula. He is a proponent of the Communicative and Task-Based methodologies, which focus on interactive and student centred approaches to language training.

Darren is also a certified administer of the TOEIC examination and a qualified ISO 9002 internal auditor.

John Ryan, Director of Studies.

With over twenty years teaching behind him, John has experience in many areas of the EFL industry. Honing his craft as a teacher in several schools, John has consistently received extremely positive feedback from his students. As well as experience in reaching general English, John also has experience in teaching exam English (PET, KET, FCE, CAE, CPE, IELTS and TIE) as well as specialty forms of English such as military English, Medical English and of course, Business English. As well as teaching learners of English, John is also an experienced teacher-trainer, training hundreds of EFL teachers who are currently working in the industry.

John has also worked in the publication of academic articles as well as on-line products available for learners. In the last six months, he has had a series of articles published in English Teaching Professional, the most widely read trade magazine in the UK. John hopes to bring all these skills together in the pursuit of making Englishour, quite simply, the best.

John believes that there is an underlying logic to the idiomatic side of English and it is his goal to empower learners to speak English naturally.

Tom O'Brien, Teacher.

Although Tom is a trained TEFL teacher he has also worked in ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) for many years. Meeting learners from all over the world, he is experienced in handling the multicultural classroom. He is also a qualified Literacy tutor and sensitive to the needs of learners who are not literate in their own language.

He believes passionately in exploiting the teachable moment when it arises in class and is conscious, like Englishour, of the need for learners to learn real spoken English.

Tom is also a playwright and his plays have been performed on the professional and amateur circuit in Ireland. With his interest in drama he likes to ensure that his classes are lively and exciting!

Eoin Williams, Teacher.

Eoin has been teaching English as a foreign language since 1994. He has worked in Madrid, London and Dublin and enjoyed practically every moment of it. He believes in creating a relaxed atmosphere in the classroom and is committed to the Englishour approach of helping students to produce English as it is naturally spoken.

Eoin has a degree in English Literature and Language from Trinity College Dublin and a degree in Philosophy and Politics from University College Dublin. He also co-created and co-wrote the award-winning comedy sketch show 'Your Bad Self' which was broadcast on Irish television in 2010 and can be seen on Youtube.