Our goal with the podcast is to share our knowledge and experience about teaching English in Chile.
We focus on practical ideas and resources that one or both of us have used in our teaching, using free resources whenever possible.
In this way, we hope to help teachers improve their practice while also giving them tools to create the best learning experiences for their students.
José Luis Poblete is an English Language teacher and adjunct professor at the Department of Linguistics and Literature at Universidad de Santiago de Chile. He holds an MA in Linguistics and Literature from KU Leuven and a BA in TEFL. His research interests span English Language Teaching (ELT), applied phonetics, pronunciation in second language teaching, translator education, and curricular design. He has also conducted research on Corpus Linguistics, the use of authentic materials, and Data-Driven Learning in the EFL classroom.
José has presented his research at conferences in Chile, Argentina, Spain, Poland, England and Ireland. In addition to his academic work, he is a member of the EIPT group (Enseñanza del Inglés en Programas de Traducción), a multi-national research group based in Chile. He is involved in the “ELT in Chile” podcast, where he interviews teachers, trainers, and experts in the fields of teaching and linguistics. He also teaches freelance classes in Santiago, Chile, specializing in IELTS and general English for adult learners in his company ieltsprep.cl.
Kevin Gerigk is an early career researcher and lecturer in English Language Teaching with more than 12 years of classroom experience in English as a Foreign language teaching. He has taught English in secondary and tertiary education in Germany, the UK and Chile. His research interests include Data-Driven Learning and pedagogical approaches to corpus-based L2 teaching and pre-service teacher education. Furthermore, he conducts research on English language teaching in translator education in Chile and on interlanguage development in primary and secondary school pupils in Brazil. In addition, he is interested in critical discourse analysis and critical pedagogy as well as social justice. In this field, Kevin works as a Visiting Researcher on an ESRC-funded project with Aston University, UK, and as a research associate at Lancaster University, UK.
Kevin has published on the topics of corpus linguistics, English language teaching, teacher education and teaching methodology. Moreover, he regularly participates in international conferences as well as in public engagement for a wider audience. He regularly gives guest lectures at universities in the UK, mainland Europe and Chile. Kevin worked as a guest lecturer in linguistics subjects at Lancaster University, University of Nottingham, and Universidad de Santiago de Chile. Kevin is a founding member of the BAAL Language Curriculum SIG and a member of EIPT (Enseñanza del Inglés en Programas de Traducción), a multi-national research group based in Chile.
Daniel has been teaching since 2006, and his experience includes teaching English, Spanish, and German from primary to tertiary education in the United States and Chile. He earned his teaching credentials and Masters of Arts in Teaching from Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Daniel has presented his teaching ideas at national conferences such as the ACTFL, CLTA, IATEFL Chile, and TESOL Chile annual conferences.
He has been living in Chile since February 2010 and currently teaches freelance classes for adults and children in the areas of TOEFL, IELTS, GRE, general and business English, and English for travel in Santiago, Chile.
Dear Podcast Listeners,
The past few years have come with a unique set of challenges, particularly in Chile: the social uprising, a pandemic, and lockdowns with an abrupt move to online teaching have all been difficult situations that we have navigated. Collectively we have also faced personal challenges with our physical and mental health as well as the loss of friends and family members, testing our resilience to keep going despite what has been happening around us.
After careful consideration, I’ve made the decision to end my participation in the ELT in Chile podcast.
Looking back at the experience, José Luis and I created 35 episodes covering a wide variety of topics related to English Language Teaching. We also interviewed guests working in different contexts and that are living or have lived in different parts of the world. We have also shared a wealth of resources (most if not all that are free) to help listeners improve their teaching practice. This was a very positive and enriching experience, and having the podcast to work on throughout the extended lockdowns of the pandemic helped provide me with a sense of purpose as well as a way of giving back to the ELT community.
There are many people to thank for this opportunity and for their role in the podcast’s success:
José Luis approached me about this in the winter of 2019 and invited me to be a part of the podcast. Without his faith in me and my ability to share my experiences, I probably would have never participated in a podcast or gone outside my comfort zone.
Carlos Sepulveda and Matías Beltramin were both integral to the recording and editing of each podcast episode. It is thanks to them that we were able to produce episodes that had an excellent sound quality.
Andrés Ranz created the logo that is the ELT in Chile logo. His creativity with incorporating the lines like a volume bar to look like the Andes mountains is something that will always stay in my mind.
Nicolás Román created and has been maintaining the ELT in Chile website since the beginning of the podcast. His knowledge and expertise made it possible to set it up to connect with Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. He also redesigned the website to give it a more organized layout.
Erin O’Byrne of Everything EFL invited us as podcasts guests on her podcast in August 2021.
TESOL Chile also invited us guests in their webinar in July 2021.
The guests on the podcast graciously shared their time to talk about their experiences: Tina Getachew, Sandra Morales, Carlos Veloso, Jorge Comte, Erika de la Barra, Soffía Carbone, Bárbara Echard, Thom Kiddle, and Maria Glazunova.
Last but not least, thank you to everyone that listened, watched, took the surveys that we made available, or told others about the podcast.
I’m not 100% sure what my future will hold. I am still passionate about helping teachers go freelance and become their own boss as well as running workshops about effective teaching methods. I’ve also been considering getting an international certification in coaching that will help me expand upon the course I took last year. In any case, I am optimistic about the future.
I hope that my role in the ELT in Chile podcast makes a positive impact for language teachers for many years to come.
Stay safe, stay kind, and KEEP ON TEACHING!
Daniel Guim
A podcast about teaching English in Chile
