I just love talking business

Hi, I’m Derek. Father of two wonderful girls and married to the most amazing woman in the Alps. Born in Ireland, I’ve been living in Austria for over 20 years. Since starting my career as a Business English Coach 18 years ago, I’ve been lucky to work with a lot of great companies, helping senior management and their staff achieve their professional goals.

Derek Callan Online Business Englisch Kurse

Where I come from

I was born in Dublin in 1977, where I spent the first 22 years of my life. My parents worked hard and did everything to give us, 3 boys and a girl, a great childhood filled with fun and adventure.

My two passions as a child and teenager were football and music. I loved playing football for local teams, and playing music in bands with friends gave me some of my best memories.

I finished school in 1994 and started college in the same year, but computer science wasn’t for me, so I went into the working world as a trainee restaurant manager and then a salesman in a bank before I had the opportunity to go and experience another culture.

I arrived in Austria in 1999 and loved it from the first minute – beautiful mountains, new people and the challenge of learning a new language.

Why I became a teacher

My new Austrian friends were more interested in improving their English than helping me with my German! Over time I started to enjoy helping them and I loved seeing how much they appreciated it and seeing them improve.

So, after a few years of working as a bar manager, I decided to start my career as an English Coach. In the first language school I worked in, I gained a lot of experience going to local companies and coaching employees in Business English. I knew how to teach English but teaching Business English was a new challenge. I learned quickly and my previous business experience helped a lot. I got to know a lot of businesses from tourism to retail, manufacturing to marketing and was always eager to learn about how different companies work.

The most rewarding thing for me is when people come back and say something wouldn’t have been possible without my coaching – it’s a great feeling!

Derek Callan Online Business English Course

Why I chose to teach online

I’ve seen a big change in the last few years: a lot of my existing clients find it hard to schedule lessons because of their busy calendars. That’s why I’ve started to create short lessons that people can watch and learn from at any time. With my background and valuable experience teaching face-to-face, I am now able to give something back.

I’ve already mentioned how satisfying it is to know that my face-to-face lessons make such a positive difference to my clients, and I believe my online lessons will help me to reach more people and give me an even greater feeling of satisfaction.

What is challenging me

For the last 6 years I’ve been teaching almost 1,000 hours each year. From the many enquiries I get, I know that more and more people are interested in learning with me. However, I can only be in one place at a time.

My goal is to continue teaching face-to-face locally but also to build up an online teaching business so I can reach more people.

In my free lessons you will find basic information and helpful tips and tricks whereas my future online courses will be filled with more in-depth information, facts, background knowledge and will contain more benefits. Ultimately, both will have the following in common: you will have the opportunity to learn the English you need with great flexibility.

Keep on working

Keep on working and improving your professional English skills by learning for a few minutes each day. Watch me on YouTube and subscribe to my channel.

Derek's Youtube Channel