I'm a teacher of English, but not a native speaker. In fact, It was only when I was fifteen that I started to learn English. At that time, Poland was behind the iron curtain, and Russian was the language taught in schools. Access to English language materials was limited. The odds were stacked against me, but somehow English language became my passion. Then came English Studies course at university, a four-year stay in London, and nearly thirty years of teaching English in various schools and, finally, my own. 

In my work I try to debunk some stereotypes around learning foreign languages later on in life. One of them is the belief that adults are always at a disadvantage compared to children.  Another is the stereotype, deeply ingrained in some cultures, that English language competence is a measure of someone's intelligence - the view that often leads to high levels of anxiety in students, who find it difficult to overcome stress when speaking English.