Helping Our Students Find Their Voice in a Remote World

It’s been a crazy couple of years, to say the least. Since my last post, I’ve had a baby, bought a house, expanded My English Coaches… oh, and survived the first half of a global pandemic.

Covid-19 turned the familiar upside down and forced all of us to rethink how we work, communicate, and connect. I coped, adapted, struggled, and adapted again. Like many people, I spent the early days in survival mode. And while there are moments when it still feels that way, I’ve also seen tremendous growth. Growth in myself and my ability to take on uncertainty, but even more so in my students.

The pandemic touched everyone differently, though for many of my students the impact was immediate and deeply personal. Borders closed. Families were suddenly far away. Trips home were postponed indefinitely. At the same time, offices disappeared overnight. In-person conversations were replaced with screens. Casual check-ins, lunch breaks, and team bonding gave way to packed calendars filled with Zoom meetings, Slack messages, and long email threads.

What changed most was not just where we worked, but how we communicated. For many non-native English speakers, opportunities to speak informally all but vanished. Communication became more deliberate, more visible, and in many cases, more stressful. Casual comments were now written. Every word was scrutinized. Every misunderstanding lingered longer than it would have in person.

That’s where we came in.

Demand grew quickly for remote lessons where students could practice virtual presentations, participate more confidently in online meetings, or simply have a space to speak English and be heard. Sometimes they came to work on language. Sometimes they came just to talk through what was happening in their lives. Either way, we were there, with feedback, structure, and a steady human connection.

Fortunately, remote learning was nothing new to us. We had been working online well before the pandemic, experimenting with shared documents, interactive whiteboards, and small-group breakout rooms long before they became part of everyday life. When everything shut down, we were able to transition seamlessly to fully remote lessons without losing momentum.

And it worked.

Despite the uncertainty of the past two years, we’ve seen remarkable progress. Shy speakers found their voice on Zoom. Pronunciation sharpened. Confidence grew. Most importantly, our students didn’t just keep going. They improved, adapted, and in many cases, thrived.

Remote learning has made English coaching more accessible, a shift we see across education as a whole. While physical movement slowed, collaboration across time zones, cultures, and continents expanded. Clear, effective communication became essential, not optional. More than ever, success depended on how well ideas could be expressed, understood, and acted upon in a remote world.

This chapter is far from over, but it has already shown us what’s possible when people rise to the challenge. I am incredibly proud of what we’ve built together and grateful for the role I’ve been able to play in my students’ growth. It’s been a wild year and a half, but we’re still here, and stronger for it.

If your English could use a brush-up, or if you want to rebuild confidence before returning to more in-person work, feel free to reach out. We’re here to help.