The Free Talk Staffroom
By Patrick Sherriff
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Category: Language Learning
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Episodes: 127
Description
Advice for the self-employed English teacher in Japan. Drops every Friday.
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| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
Don't let teaching limit you
|
Jul 03, 2026 |
|
Tech in teaching: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should
|
Jun 26, 2026 |
|
A little known advantage of teaching for yourself
|
Jun 19, 2026 |
|
The culture shock of working for yourself in Japan
|
Jun 11, 2026 |
|
Some help with how to teach children to read English
|
Jun 05, 2026 |
|
Make a 5-year plan
|
May 29, 2026 |
|
You don't have to be an expert
|
May 22, 2026 |
|
It gets easier
|
May 15, 2026 |
|
Are you ready for the next stages of your journey?
|
May 08, 2026 |
|
That time I almost became a university lecturer but was glad I didn’t…
|
May 01, 2026 |
|
Don’t be an eikaiwa teacher for more than six months?
|
Apr 24, 2026 |
|
Kids or adults — who are better to teach?
|
Apr 17, 2026 |
|
Don’t discount your prices, do this instead
|
Apr 10, 2026 |
|
A year's worth of EFL lessons for adults for free
|
Apr 03, 2026 |
|
The strength (and weakness) of one
|
Mar 20, 2026 |
|
113. What you can do THIS VERY MOMENT to boost business as a self-employed English teacher in Japan
|
Mar 13, 2026 |
|
112. Three threats to English teaching in Japan (and what to do about them)
|
Mar 06, 2026 |
|
111. What's your number?
|
Feb 27, 2026 |
|
110. A pep talk for folk who don’t fit in
|
Feb 20, 2026 |
|
20 years of teaching English in Japan in 60 seconds
|
Feb 13, 2026 |
|
108. Why you should work in a crappy job before going it alone
|
Feb 06, 2026 |
|
107. The right frame of mind to teach English in Japan
|
Jan 30, 2026 |
|
106. Do you need qualifications to teach English privately in Japan?
|
Jan 23, 2026 |
|
105. Where you can find more students
|
Jan 16, 2026 |
|
104. Teaching English for yourself to reach your dream salary - the numbers
|
Jan 09, 2026 |
|
103. Hopes for the New Year
|
Jan 02, 2026 |
|
102. I'm off the booze
|
Dec 25, 2025 |
|
101. Count the ways to beat burnout as an English teacher in Japan
|
Dec 19, 2025 |
|
100. Two things you should do while you're living it up as a self-employed teacher in Japan
|
Dec 12, 2025 |
|
99. Should you copy or be original in your teaching?
|
Dec 05, 2025 |
|
98. What’s the status of English teachers in Japan?
|
Nov 28, 2025 |
|
97. The Napoleon Bonaparte approach to teaching English
|
Nov 21, 2025 |
|
Three new TEFL textbooks for adult beginners
|
Nov 14, 2025 |
|
95. Why I'm wary of using AI in English teaching in Japan… and maybe you should be too
|
Nov 07, 2025 |
|
94. How I use AI to teach English
|
Oct 31, 2025 |
|
93. How long does it take to prepare for a day of teaching?
|
Oct 24, 2025 |
|
92. Remembering Matthew Dons
|
Oct 17, 2025 |
|
91. How to do level checks
|
Oct 10, 2025 |
|
90. Why I've started teaching English on Sundays
|
Oct 03, 2025 |
|
89. Is this how you want to spend your life?
|
Sep 26, 2025 |
|
88. How we did our annual speech day this year
|
Sep 19, 2025 |
|
87. Start where you are, and you might surprise yourself where you end up
|
Sep 12, 2025 |
|
86. Questions over how best to use our first employee
|
Sep 05, 2025 |
|
85. I've just published Free Talk Business 1-3 English courses for Japanese students
|
Aug 29, 2025 |
|
84. The weirdest English lessons I've ever taught
|
Aug 22, 2025 |
|
83. The real story of how I came to teach English in Japan
|
Aug 15, 2025 |
|
82. Two tips to get your English school off the ground
|
Aug 08, 2025 |
|
81. Are you finding teaching English stressful? Here's a simple idea to set you free
|
Aug 01, 2025 |
|
80. A day in the life of a self-employed English teacher in Japan
|
Jul 25, 2025 |
|
79. Teaching English in this age of nationalism — or how Trump is affecting the business
|
Jul 18, 2025 |
|
78. Stuck in low-wage English teaching? Time to start your own school
|
Jul 11, 2025 |
|
77. A new dawn for my business? We just hired a (Japanese) English teacher
|
Jul 04, 2025 |
|
76. The secret to running a successful English school in Japan for the long run
|
Jun 20, 2025 |
|
75. It's the self-employed bit of "self-employed English teacher in Japan" that is the superpower
|
Jun 13, 2025 |
|
74. Sheer terror or mild interest? How to think about AI in English teaching
|
Jun 06, 2025 |
|
73. Why teach concepts in English folk don't know in Japanese? And why not?
|
May 30, 2025 |
|
72. How teaching English is a subscription business
|
May 23, 2025 |
|
71. Are you here for the long term?
|
May 18, 2025 |
|
70. How can you get more private students by teaching at kindergartens and the like?
|
May 11, 2025 |
|
69. An English school in a box
|
Apr 26, 2025 |
|
68. How to use QR codes to teach Japanese kids to read English
|
Mar 19, 2025 |
|
67. A brand new course for adults...
|
Mar 02, 2025 |
|
Are you free tonight? Come say hello in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo
|
Feb 23, 2025 |
|
65. You gotta love Valentines... for English schools
|
Feb 14, 2025 |
|
64. New students — it’s all about the birds and the bees
|
Feb 02, 2025 |
|
61. Time to get your act together
|
Jan 22, 2025 |
|
60. Lovely to see you at the Expo yesterday
|
Dec 08, 2024 |
|
Come say hello this Saturday
|
Dec 01, 2024 |
|
59. Have you thought about running your own speech day?
|
Jul 28, 2024 |
|
58. Do you really want to be a one-trick pony?
|
Jun 14, 2024 |
|
57. Why I teach.
|
Jun 07, 2024 |
|
56. Reasons to become a self-employed English teacher even if you have your doubts…
|
May 31, 2024 |
|
55. Adapt to survive ... aka know which hill is worth dying on (most of them aren't)
|
May 24, 2024 |
|
54. Alternative ways to make money when you are a self-employed teacher in Japan
|
May 17, 2024 |
|
53. The secret to teaching English as a foreign language
|
May 10, 2024 |
|
52. Do you need a TEFL certificate?
|
May 03, 2024 |
|
51. Do you know when to call it quits?
|
Apr 26, 2024 |
|
50. You're better off saying 'yes'
|
Apr 19, 2024 |
|
49. Do you feel trapped teaching English in Japan?
|
Apr 12, 2024 |
|
48. Age discrimination? Don’t box yourself in
|
Apr 05, 2024 |
|
47. Sometimes you have to say ‘no’
|
Mar 29, 2024 |
|
46. What are the pros of teaching English in Japan for yourself?
|
Mar 22, 2024 |
|
45. Is it racist to prefer to be taught a language by a native speaker? A few thoughts
|
Mar 15, 2024 |
|
44. What’s life really like as a self-employed English teacher in Japan?
|
Mar 08, 2024 |
|
43. What to do when a new student says they just want to improve their English conversation
|
Mar 01, 2024 |
|
42. Who are your best students?
|
Feb 23, 2024 |
|
41. Career progression for the self-employed English teacher in Japan
|
Feb 16, 2024 |
|
40. Why you shouldn't be a self-employed English teacher in Japan
|
Feb 09, 2024 |
|
39. How to upload your completed textbook to Amazon
|
Feb 02, 2024 |
|
38. How to publish your own English textbooks in Japan
|
Jan 26, 2024 |
|
37. A different future as a self-employed English teacher in Japan
|
Jan 19, 2024 |
|
36. A tour of a self-employed English teacher's school in Japan
|
Jan 12, 2024 |
|
35. How do you teach an online English lesson?: 10 low-tech, no preparation tips to get started
|
Jan 05, 2024 |
|
34. Why I like this time of year, and something to get your kids writing in the New Year
|
Dec 29, 2023 |
|
33. The Sherriff theory of value, AKA the shepherd’s pie model of business
|
Dec 22, 2023 |
|
32. How to get teens to enjoy reading books in English
|
Dec 15, 2023 |
|
31. All the best ideas come in the shower
|
Dec 08, 2023 |
|
30. Who am I? And why am I here?
|
Dec 01, 2023 |
|
29. Could you 10x your English teaching business?
|
Nov 24, 2023 |
|
28. How badly do you want it?
|
Nov 17, 2023 |
|
27. A trip back to Britain, and what it taught me about teaching English in Japan
|
Nov 10, 2023 |
|
26. How can you use social media to get more students?
|
Nov 03, 2023 |
|
25. Should you make friends with your students?
|
Oct 27, 2023 |
|
24. Mr Shiawase and the 50-50 rule of teaching
|
Oct 20, 2023 |
|
23. Finding your own way in teaching
|
Oct 13, 2023 |
|
22. The mindset you need to be a self-employed English teacher in Japan
|
Oct 06, 2023 |
|
21. Teaching English in Japan - my origin story
|
Sep 29, 2023 |
|
20. How many weeks do you have off a year?
|
Sep 22, 2023 |
|
19. The most dangerous number in a teaching business
|
Sep 15, 2023 |
|
18. Why I use a textbook to teach English
|
Sep 08, 2023 |
|
17. Thoughts about business models and teaching
|
Sep 01, 2023 |
|
16. Thoughts on just because it's easy, doesn't mean it's worthless
|
Aug 25, 2023 |
|
15. Thoughts on why your school needs a newsletter
|
Aug 18, 2023 |
|
14. What to do when a student quits
|
Aug 11, 2023 |
|
13. The secret to thriving as a self-employed English teacher
|
Aug 04, 2023 |
|
12. You just have to be a bit above average, that's all
|
Jul 28, 2023 |
|
11. Why I don't give students homework
|
Jul 21, 2023 |
|
10. The only 12 grammar rules you need for teaching English
|
Jul 14, 2023 |
|
9. My three biggest mistakes as a self-employed English teacher
|
Jul 07, 2023 |
|
8. How much should you charge for your English lessons?
|
Jun 30, 2023 |
|
7. So, how exactly do you teach an English lesson?
|
Jun 23, 2023 |
|
6. The good news about bad English chain schools in Japan
|
Jun 16, 2023 |
|
5. Why I don’t teach exam English
|
Jun 09, 2023 |
|
4. Five myths about teaching English in Japan you should ignore
|
Jun 02, 2023 |
|
3. Who wants to be a self-employed English teacher in Japan?
|
May 26, 2023 |
|
2. Where do you get your first students from?
|
May 19, 2023 |
|
1. Why have a plan?
|
May 12, 2023 |