Teacher Spotlight: Alan Fisher - Turning Natural Passion into Language Teaching

Like many teachers in the Edumo community, Alan Fisher didn’t take the traditional route into language teaching. His journey — one filled with global moves and personal reinvention — eventually led him to the classroom. When he’s not tending his fish tank (which he livestreams), Alan is applying his entrepreneurial spirit to innovative language lessons, proving that passion, adaptability, and a bit of quirkiness can go a long way in education.

From a gap year to a language teacher

Originally from Northern Ireland, Alan moved around a lot growing up. During a gap year in Spain, a spontaneous decision changed the course of his life.

“I thought, what can I offer that locals can’t? Speak English. Turns out, teaching it is a lot harder than speaking it.”

With no formal training, Alan struggled with his initial language lessons. That challenge led him to sequester himself in the local library. Armed with grammar books and determination, he taught himself how to teach English — building lessons from scratch and learning as he went. From that point on, he was hooked.

Still, language teaching remained a side gig for years. Only recently did Alan decide to commit fully to the profession, teaching mostly English but also Spanish. The final push? His wife.

“You may have noticed that I’m a talkative person. And teaching is talking while knowing what you’re talking about. It was my wife’s idea. She said, ‘You could make money out of that.’”

Finding the right language teaching resources

Rather than join a traditional language school or go fully independent, Alan opted to teach through Preply, a popular online marketplace connecting learners and teachers.

“I’ve thought about going out on my own, but it’s time-consuming. You’ve got to advertise, you’ve got to get your own students. With a platform, they advertise you more as you become successful.”

When it comes to his teaching style, Alan prefers to keep things light on grammar and heavy on engagement. He rotates between his growing archive of lessons, creating new content, and exploring online resources to synthesize creative and personalized material. That’s where Edumo has come in handy.

In fact, Alan has been one of our most vocal supporters (check out his review here). He’s particularly fond of the AI story generator, which he uses to craft custom stories tailored to individual students. After reading and discussing the story together in a lesson, he uses Edumo’s pre-generated comprehension questions as follow-up homework.

Alan's unique approach to language teaching

Alan brings a whimsical charm to the classroom — a reflection of his broader creative interests. Outside teaching, he writes (all kinds of literature), composes music, and, yes, livestreams his fish tank. His eccentricity has become something of a signature.

“I’m known for obscure information. People come to me with weird little terms, and I know where they come from. I’ve had students book lessons just so I could explain something someone else couldn’t.”

While Alan credits his talkative nature for his teaching success, he’s deeply motivated by the tangible impact he sees in his students. Helping someone land a job or unlock newfound confidence through language is deeply rewarding. In fact, he finds the work so rewarding, he struggled to give me any downsides, citing only the time spent creating lessons, but even that he finds creative and relaxing.

What advice would you give new language teachers?

Before wrapping up, we asked Alan to share advice for new teachers. He laughed and paused for a moment.

“It’s gonna be rough! It is worth it… but it’s hard. I started off celebrating one student with one lesson a week. But it’s like that with everything.”

You can find Alan, his creative exploits, and his fish tank at his private website: https://www.alanjfisher.co.uk/