{"id":27263,"date":"2023-07-22T14:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/?p=25556"},"modified":"2026-02-06T20:06:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T03:06:53","slug":"shane-from-jamaica-teaching-business-english-online-in-chile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/shane-from-jamaica-teaching-business-english-online-in-chile\/","title":{"rendered":"Shane, From Jamaica, Teaching Business English Online in Chile"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For more than a decade, the English teaching career of Bridge alum Shane Lewis, from Jamaica, has been focused on fueling his passion for helping others and continuous professional growth. He is currently teaching Business English online with multiple organizations as well as to a group of his own private learners in one-on-one sessions. He shares how he began teaching professionals in Chile, how he has developed more skills to cater to his students\u2019 needs, and what some of the most rewarding moments have been throughout his teaching journey.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you tell us a bit about yourself, Shane?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m originally from Kingston, Jamaica, and I\u2019m living and teaching English here in Chile. I left Jamaica in 2011, and then I worked on a ship for about two and a half years. Then, I met my Chilean wife in Malaysia. Upon finishing my time onboard the ship, I went back to Jamaica for a couple of weeks. We got married there, and then we came here shortly after in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you get into teaching English?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I came to Chile, I knew no Spanish. I got married, and I met my wife\u2019s friend, who is married to an American working for the English Language Institute here in Antofagasta<\/a>. I ended up joining their organization. I’ve contemplated what drew me to the job, but I think it boils down to having a passion for helping others, and one of the ways that I could do that was by helping others learn English. After doing that, I developed a love for it and I just continued doing it. But I think it stemmed from having that desire to assist someone, especially from a professional or educational point of view, to improve their skill set and their opportunities, be it personal or for work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has your teaching experience been in northern Chile?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d say a little different given the fact that I initially worked very briefly in a school teaching young learners<\/a>, which was very different from teaching professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, the school I worked for had about 30 students per class, as opposed to now teaching professionals<\/a>, which has a maximum of five students per class. So, it has been very different but very eye-opening because the professionals I teach bring with them a certain level of expertise and maturity, which is very different from children within a school environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shane in La Portada, a tourist attraction in Antofagasta, Chile<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How did you switch to teaching English to professionals?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While I was teaching at the school, a colleague of mine asked for help with teaching some professionals (in person). I assisted her at the time and then it has just snowballed ever since. She actually went to another part of Chile and I continued teaching in Antofagasta. When I finished that course at the company, they requested my presence again for the next year and I’ve just been doing it ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve also been with several other companies not only in Antofagasta but also in other areas surrounding Antofagasta. Then, shortly before the pandemic started in early 2020, we had protests here in Chile, which forced us to be a little bit more dynamic and move the classes online. That was when I started teaching English to professionals online<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read about the post-COVID online English language market growth, with projections of continual expansion.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where are you currently teaching, and how do you juggle your different class schedules?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the moment, I work for eClass teaching professionals and Voxy, which provides job-specific language training. Both platforms are online. I also teach private online English students<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to be organized, especially when you are working with international students. You also have to take the time zone into consideration. For example, I have some students in Costa Rica, and a month ago, we were three hours ahead of Costa Rica. So, you have to be very mindful of the time difference and manage your schedule very well. However, most of my students are here in Chile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you find your own private English learners?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These are students I’ve worked with since 2014. I\u2019ve never really issued a flyer or put any information on Facebook. It’s just word of mouth. My students would basically tell their colleagues or mention it to their company, and that’s how my name gets around to different people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in learning how to market on Facebook? Read Into the Metaverse: How to Find ESL Students Using Facebook.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Shane
Shane visiting the Bellas Artes museum in Santiago, Chile<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Can you tell us more about your online English teaching job?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the industry of the professionals, the kind of lesson I give varies. For example, I work a lot with professionals in the energy and mining industry. The north of Chile is known for copper mining, and as a result of that, you have a lot of international companies that work with these mining companies, and a lot of the information that is provided to these companies is in English. Therefore, they need to be able to either conduct meetings in English, respond to emails in English, or read manuals in English. Some students want to work on their writing skills and some want to focus more on giving presentations. But I\u2019d say I teach mostly general and Business English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What types of materials do you usually use for your Business English lessons?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The companies I work for provide the materials that we, the teachers, use to teach the students, so that’s where most of the material comes from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for my private students, when I first came here to Chile, I worked with the English Language Institute and we used a book series called Cutting Edge<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If my students prefer to do a general English course, a lot of my materials are based on these books or materials I find online. Some of my resources include:<\/p>\n\n\n