My first experience as an English language teacher was my first day as a volunteer, being asked to stand up and teach an entire girls' school in a field outside a cafeteria in up-country Thailand.

Since then, in sometimes equally interesting conditions, I have taught teenagers in England, literature undergraduates in North Africa, and businessmen in Thailand.

My first EFL books were written with Mark Ellis and published by Thomas Nelson.

After my linguistics MA, I teamed up with Mary Bowen, with whom I have written the primary courses Pyramid for Mexico, Surprise for young learners in the Middle East, and Way Ahead, a six-part primary series, which is also designed for the Middle East.

I have also been lucky enough to write for a Greek publisher and to work on a German series - Camden Town - for Gymnasium students.

Currently, I am a series co-editor on a major primary series for China, and am also co-writing the new Move Ahead series with Ken Wilson, for Macmillan.

It’s been a long journey since that terrifying day, standing alone, in front of so many girls, and knowing so little.

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