I was born in Newfoundland, Canada, but went to school in England from the age of 11. I then attended Memorial University of Newfoundland where I graduated with a five year degree in Commerce (Finance & Investments) in 1972. I then married a French woman and subsequently enrolled in an immersion French programme to learn the language - so I have experienced second-language learning from the other side. (Incidentally, I was born with both Canadian and British nationalities and have both passports, the Canadian one having been renewed in Seoul while I was there in 2007!)

This background has given me an insight as to how to better learn - and teach - and has made a great contribution to how I approach my job, especially when it comes to pronunciation. My two children are fully bilingual and bringing them up in two languages also taught me a lot about the learning and teaching of languages.

My professional life covered a great variety of situations starting with a family run business in retailing in Canada and the USA and insurance and then running through 11 years as Managing Director of an international maritime shipping company based on a small French island off the coast of Newfoundland and ending with owning and running a restaurant and finally a discotheque there on the island. I "retired" from an active professional life in 1997 but in 2006 I decided it was time to go back to work as I felt I had more to contribute and so ended up in Korea - a choice I will never regret as I enjoyed both the place and its people and made many Korean friends.

With this background I feel that I am highly capable of teaching both university level students as well as those who are already employed and want to improve their English skills for advancement within their companies. I have taught, of course, in a classroom setting of up to 12 to 15 students and I have given many one-on-one sessions for students who were studying for exams, interviews or preparing for overseas positions and these seemed to give satisfaction to all those concerned. For my part I am quite happy doing either and of course in both settings I bring a considerable amount of "life" and "professional" experience which can greatly enhance the learning experience for the students of all levels.

At YBM I taught all levels of students - from those who were just capable of starting classes with a "Native Speaker" for the first time, right up to classes for students who wanted to improve their already excellent speaking skills in advanced classes called "Hot Topics" where students were encouraged to employ their debating skills as a way to improve their level of English comprehension and expression.

I hope to find similar employment, in or close to Seoul, in either a YBM Adult type school or university setting and look forward to hearing from any institution or school who think they would have a place for someone of my qualifications. I might add that, as a more mature man, I do not think of my time in Korea as an "adventure" and I will be there purely for the pleasure of helping those highly motivated students with whom I come in contact. During the 15 months that I was there in Korea, as mentioned above, I missed not one hour of teaching and was always ready to take on extra hours if needed and/or requested by other teachers or by the management of the school. I taught split shifts quite happily (starting at 6:40 am and finishing at 10 pm) and would have no problem doing the same in future. I usually arrived at work at about 6:15 - preferring to be there in advance rather than arriving "on the run" as class was starting. I was late only once (when I overslept) but only missed ten minutes of a class which started at 6:40 am.

I am available to take up a position at any time and I can be reached by email at nhbowring@yahoo.ca (please note that it is "CA" not "COM") or by telephone at any time, day or night here, preferably after setting up an acceptable time by email. My local time is Eastern Daylight Time, 13 hours behind Korean Time.

Incidentally I have all the required papers for teaching in Korea - including a RCMP Criminal Record report which I requested in March while in Canada on my return from Korea.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who can provide me with a position teaching once more in Korea and I thank you for taking the time to read the above.