Ed Hackett-Jones
English coaching, one-to-one online
Fluency, vocabulary, and pronunciation —
with Ed Hackett‑Jones, online.
If you can already get by in English but want to sound clearer and more natural, you’re in the right place.
Who it’s for
If you can already get by in English but want to sound clearer and more natural, you’re in the right place. That might be for work, travel, or day-to-day life.Beginners are welcome too. Sessions are one-to-one, and we go at your pace.
How it worksWe meet on Zoom, at a time that suits you. Each session has a simple focus — conversation, vocabulary, grammar, or pronunciation — depending on what you need. You’ll get brief notes afterwards so things stick.Payment is by bank transfer.AboutI’m Ed. I’ve lived in the UK all my life — mostly Suffolk and Norfolk — and I coach English online from Ipswich.I’m married, with a daughter. Over the years I’ve worked in events, wine, property, and horticulture. Outside work I’m happiest outdoors: walking, sailing, skiing, and a Christmas holiday in Austria most years. I cook a lot. As a child I was a musician, and these days I’m learning German (so I know what it feels like to be the student).I also have a soft spot for old cars — there’s a 1967 MGB Roadster in the mix — though day to day is rather more practical.I’m a qualified English language coach (Qualifi Level 3 TEFL, The TEFL Academy). Sessions are meant to feel like a proper conversation: clear goals, patience, and a bit of humour.
Pricing
Simple, clear pricing. No hidden extras.Start with a free chat
Before we book anything, we have a free 20-minute call on Zoom. You tell me what you need, and we see if we're a good fit. No pressure.One-to-one sessions
£25 an hour. Each session is one hour, on Zoom.Packages (better value)
10 hours: £225. That's £22.50 an hour. You save £25 (10%).
20 hours: £400. That's £20 an hour. You save £100 (20%).
Packages are paid in advance. You can use them within 6 months.Refer a friend
If you refer a friend who books a package of 10 hours or more, you each get a free hour after their first paid session. The free hour can't be transferred and expires after 3 months.Good to know
• Payment is by bank transfer, in advance, in pounds. I'll confirm by email once it arrives.
• All times are UK time. I'll send you a reminder 24 hours before each session.
• Please give at least 24 hours' notice to cancel or move a session. Late cancellations and no-shows are charged.
• If I need to cancel at short notice, you get a free replacement session or a refund.
• If you're more than 10 minutes late, the session counts as cancelled.
• Unused package hours expire after 6 months.
• You have a 14-day cooling-off period. After that, unused package hours can be refunded pro rata, less a small admin fee.Full terms are available on request.Get in touch →
Send a short note about yourself and what you’d like to work on. I’ll email you back to suggest a time.Email: [email protected]
ArticlesPractical thoughts on building confidence and fluency in English.
Why fluency matters more than perfect grammar
School French never made speaking easy — why clear conversation beats waiting for perfect grammar.
How to feel more confident in Zoom English lessons
Camera nerves are normal. Simple Zoom habits, including hiding self-view, can make lessons feel calmer.
I did French to A-level — and I still wasn’t good at it
Exams aren’t the same as speaking confidence — adult learners can rewrite that school story.
What Duolingo is good for — and what it can’t do
A daily app habit is genuinely useful — but real speaking confidence needs real conversation.
Why fluency matters more than perfect grammarI studied French for years — all the way to A-level. Near the end of prep school, my mother even sent me to France for a term. She hoped decent French would give me a stronger start. I still wasn’t very good at it.So when adult learners tell me they freeze because their grammar isn’t perfect, I get it. I know what it’s like to “know” a language on paper and still feel stuck when you try to speak.Here’s the honest bit: when someone talks to you, they care about your meaning first. Do they understand you? Can the chat keep going? A clear sentence that comes out beats a perfect one that never does.That doesn’t mean grammar is unimportant. Good grammar helps you sound clear and professional. It matters at work, in exams, and when you want to sound polished. But accuracy grows best when you’re already using the language — not when you’re waiting to be perfect before you open your mouth.Waiting for perfect slows you downIn real conversation, there’s no pause button. If you rebuild every sentence in your head, the moment passes. You feel more nervous. Next time, you speak even less.Fluent speakers make mistakes too — including native speakers. They restart, correct themselves, and keep going. And the person you’re speaking to is usually more patient — and more focused on understanding you — than you fear.Fluency grows with useSmall practice tools are useful in small ways, but an app can’t replace real speaking. Between lessons, even five minutes helps — a quick chat, a voice note, or answering one question out loud. Your coaching hour is where we dig in; those little bursts keep the language warm in between.Aim first to be clear and understandable. Then tidy accuracy as you go, with feedback and a bit of focused practice. Fluency first when you’re speaking; accuracy catching up beside it.One tip you can use todayIf you notice a mistake mid-sentence, finish the thought. You can fix it afterwards (“Sorry — I meant…”). Finishing builds fluency. Fixing later builds accuracy. Both matter.So yes — keep learning grammar. Just don’t let it lock the door while you’re standing outside, ready to talk.Try this week: speak for two minutes without stopping to rebuild every sentence. You might be clearer than you think.—Ed Hackett-Jones helps adult learners build confidence and fluency in English through online coaching.Back to Articles
How to feel more confident in Zoom English lessonsI still find public speaking hard. My hands shake. My mouth goes dry. I sweat. Being on camera has never felt natural to me — and I’ve learned other languages, so I know that mix of “I want to speak” and “please don’t look at me” rather well.So if Zoom English lessons make you nervous, you’re not alone, and you’re not “bad at English.” Camera + second language is a lot.Nerves are normal — silence is allowedYou don’t have to fill every gap. A short pause while you find a word is fine. Rushing usually makes speaking harder. Your coach expects thinking time. That’s part of the lesson.A little prep helpsBefore you join, pick one small thing: a topic you want to talk about, three phrases you often need, or a word you keep forgetting. You’re not scripting the whole hour. You’re giving yourself a soft landing.Try this Zoom tipI turn off my own self-view. Other people can still see me, but I only see them. I’m not watching myself talk or frown at every slip. For a lot of people, that one change makes the call feel calmer. (In Zoom, hide self-view on your video tile.)You also don’t need to stare at the lens the whole time. Looking at the person on screen is natural too.Mistakes are low-stakes hereA lesson is a safe place to practise under a little pressure. Mistakes are expected — they’re useful. If your mind goes blank, say something simple: “Let me think…” or “Can I try that again?” That keeps you in the chat and buys you a moment.Confidence grows with repetitionOne calm lesson won’t erase every butterfly. Regular speaking on Zoom makes the situation familiar. Familiar feels less scary. That’s how confidence builds — not through perfection, but through showing up and speaking anyway.This week, try one small change: hide self-view, prepare three useful phrases, or allow yourself one unhurried pause. Tiny steps still count.
I did French to A-level — and I still wasn’t good at itI studied French for years. All the way to A-level. Near the end of prep school, I even spent a term in France. My mother hoped it would give me a stronger start at my next school.I still wasn’t very good at it.That wasn’t because I had poor teachers. I had wonderful modern languages teachers at school — especially Mr Ayres and Mr Cottrell. They deserved a better student on the French front. The gap wasn’t their teaching. It was me: I could get through the school work, but I never felt at home speaking.A lot of adult learners know that feeling. You “did a language at school.” You passed some exams. You learned lists and rules. And somehow, when a real person spoke to you, your mind went blank.School language and spoken confidence are not the same thing.Exams reward what you can write and remember under pressure. Real conversation rewards something else: starting, keeping going, making yourself understood, and recovering when you slip. You can be diligent in class and still feel lost in a café. That doesn’t mean you were “bad at languages.” It often means nobody gave speaking enough safe practice.Many adults carry quiet school shame about this. It sits there for years: I was never any good at languages. So they avoid speaking. Or they wait until they feel “ready.” Ready can take a lifetime.Here’s the hopeful part. Adult learning is different.You get to choose the goal. Travel chat. Work meetings. Everyday English with less panic. You’re not stuck in someone else’s syllabus. And you can practise speaking on purpose — little and often — in a place where mistakes are normal.What helps more than another textbook alone? Regular speaking. Patience with mistakes. A clear reason to use the language this week, not “one day.”That’s one reason I coach online. A lesson is a safe hour to build the bit school often skipped: using English out loud, with someone patient, until it feels less scary.If school left you thinking you “cant do languages,” you’re allowed to rewrite that story. Not with perfect grammar on day one — with small, honest speaking practice, and a bit of kindness toward yourself.I didn’t become a French success story. I did become someone who understands why speaking feels hard — and how adults can get better at it anyway.—Ed Hackett-Jones helps adult learners build confidence and fluency in English through online coaching.Back to Articles
What Duolingo is good for — and what it can’t do
I’ve now done German on Duolingo every day for 798 days, with only a couple of misses. I like it. It fits into real life. It keeps the language in front of me when I’m busy.So this isn’t a rant against apps. It’s an honest look at what they’re good at — and where you still need something else if your goal is to speak.What Duolingo is good forHabit. A short daily session beats waiting for the perfect study plan. Showing up matters.First contact. New words, simple patterns, a bit of listening and reading. Useful when you’re building a base or keeping a language warm.Low pressure. It’s private and bite-sized. No audience. No red pen. That alone helps a lot of adults start.Momentum. Small wins add up. For many people, that’s enough to keep going when motivation dips.If that’s where you are — starting, restarting, or keeping a streak alive — an app can be a genuinely good tool.What it can’t do (well)Real conversation. Tapping the right answer isn’t the same as talking to a person. Real chat is messy. People interrupt, change topic, speak fast, or don’t follow the script.Speaking confidence. Confidence grows when you hear your own voice out loud and survive the moment. An app can prepare you. It can’t fully practise that for you.Personal feedback. It doesn’t know your habits — the word you always avoid, the sound you keep missing, the moment you freeze. A coach (or a patient speaking partner) can.The deeper moments. Work meetings, travel snags, explaining an opinion, disagreeing politely. Those need more than a daily exercise.A simple way to think about itThink of an app as a helpful gym for bits of the language — vocabulary, patterns, a daily touch. Speaking with a person is the match. You need both if you want to feel comfortable in real English (or German, or anything else).I’m still doing my German on Duolingo. I also know that when I want to get better at talking, I need real conversation — the same thing I help my learners with in our coaching hour.If you use an app, keep going. Just don’t stop there. Add a little speaking with a real human when you can. That’s usually where the confidence jumps.—
Ed Hackett-Jones helps adult learners build confidence and fluency in English through online coaching.