James Nicoll's Personal Homepage

Let me introduce myself. My name's James Nicoll, I'm an English teacher and I've been working in Hong Kong for about twelve years.

Background

I was born in the UK in a town called Bedford, which is near Cambridge, about 50 miles north of London. (If you're interested you can open a new window and see some pictures of the town by clicking here. Other links on this page also open in new windows.) I went to a school called Bedford Modern School and took my A Levels at what is now called Guildford College.

I left the UK in 1983 and haven't been back all that much! I have travelled quite extensively, having been to around 60 countries, mostly in Asia and Europe and lived for some years in Australia.

Hong Kong

I came to Hong Kong in 1990, stayed for a year, went travelling for a year (going from the UK to Bangladesh overland via China), came back to Hong Kong and have more or less been here ever since. I pursued a new career in English teaching (see below), got married and started a family. Hong Kong is an amazing place (if you haven't been there), it's very dynamic and modern and, for me as an outsider, culturally very interesting.

English Teaching

I started teaching English when I first came to Hong Kong. I soon realised that I there was a lot to know about teaching, and I didn't know much of it! So, when I returned to Hong Kong in 1992 I took a teaching course at The British Council and started working there soon after that. While I was at the Council I did a lot of teacher development and, in due course, gave a lot of teacher training. I took my Cambridge Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language whilst I was there. I also got a very wide range of experience at the Council, ranging from young learners to advanced adults. I probably specialised in teaching more advanced learners and business courses. I also pursued an interest in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL).

At Present

Unfortunately I am at getting divorced from my wife Kylie, (who owns the Ark Veterinary Clinic). Fortunately, life is considerably brightened by my stepson Ben and son Jack. I've moved into a flat in Sai Ying Pun close to where my wife lives so I can see a lot of the boys. After an epic struggle I finished my Masters degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and am just waiting for it to be formally granted. In the meantime I'm doing some different pieces of work, part time teaching, tutoring and web design.