My name is Chris White, I have been an English teacher for 32 years. I first came to Budapest in 1996 as a teacher exchange program to a primary school in Budafok and loved it, at this time native speakers were a novelty in Hungary! Since then, I’ve built a wide range of experience as a teacher with all age groups, examiner, academic manager and teacher trainer. I worked for the British Council for 20 years during this time. I have also worked in Bucharest, Cairo and Rabat.
I come from London, my first job was as a paperboy,and did many different things before becoming a teacher. Now, I am Hungarian as well. I have four children, one of whom is now an Australian! Living in Hungary has been challenging, but rewarding, it has made me a swimmer and cyclist, and an expert in Hunglish.
I still have a very English personality and sense of humour, you can change your place, but the roots remain. I think people stay the same and just adapt to where they end up. Life is about adapting, not changing. Learning a new language is necessary to adapt, you don’t need to be perfect, but making the effort and enthusiasm are just as important as grasping the grammar, although that helps too!
I have also managed many teachers over the years, the best ones make positive classroom relationships and lessons fun, learning comes from attention and engagement, we learn best when we don’t think about it too hard. Everybody finds their own level, I believe it is a result of motivation as much as talent. Naturally, passing exams requires dedication and hard work. I was the Cambridge exams team leader for 14 years and know what it takes to pass tests.
My favourite thing is football, I played for a local team here for years, now I just watch and follow my son who is a good player, unlike me! I also enjoy socialising, reading, and doing British cryptic crosswords, these are entirely different from other types of word games. A cryptic crossword is a puzzle in which every clue is a small act of misdirection, every answer is technically fair but emotionally confusing, and the solver is expected to think like a linguist, a lawyer, and a mildly unhinged poet—simultaneously.
