Home | Birkenhead English

BOOST YOUR FLUENCY IN ENGLISH AND EXCEL IN THE CAREER YOU'VE TRAINED FOR

I'm Jane Birkenhead, English tutor and fluency coach

I specialize in English and communication services for international professionals, and exam preparation for TOEFL and IELTS candidates.

I live in Canada and I'm from Great Britain so I can help you with all aspects of North American and British English.

I give every client individual and personalized attention. Everyone learns differently and personalized tuition means faster progress.

Over the past 20 years, hundreds of non-native English speakers have studied with me to improve their English fluency, pass exams, and move forward with confidence in their careers.

Irma

Nurse, Spanish Speaker

You understood my weak points and you totally believed in me from the beginning.

You were so patient with me and you never gave up.

Hasnaa

Pharmacist, Arabic Speaker

You found my mistakes and gave me feedback so I wouldn't repeat them.

You told me, "Hasnaa we will change the way you study" and well, it was worth it.

Jane listened to my speaking and told me how to work on my weaknesses. She boosted my confidence and believed in me when I did not believe in myself and was about to give up on my dream.

Pharmacist, Arabic Speaker

Samah

I use English at work and I'd like to communicate fluently with my colleagues and clients

I'd like to reduce my fossilized errors in English

I need to take an English proficiency exam

I'd like to speak English more clearly so people can understand me better

Which exam do you need?

TOEFL

IELTS

Something Else?

Let me know what you need help with and I'll design a course especially for you

I need to improve my proficiency in English before I start preparing for exams

What would you like to do?

These are some examples of the services I offer.

I've been immersed in English language tutoring for the past 20 years and have extensive experience of working with clients from different language groups, professions, and with different levels of fluency.

There are many overlaps between these different services and everything is customizable depending on your particular needs.

If you're not sure exactly what you're looking for, but you know you need help with English, let me know and we can make a plan together.

LET'S CHAT

I offer all seriously interested clients a free 30-minute video consultation.

Click the link above for more information

I gather together my favourite studying strategies and resources in my blog. Whether you're an interested learner working on improving your fluency in English or preparing for English proficiency exams, I hope you'll find something that helps you.

I update it regularly, so keep checking back for new articles.

TOEFL / IELTS Exam Preparation

What to do the Day Before your Exam

Jane Birkenhead • May 29, 2025

It’s perfectly natural to feel nervous the day before big exams. I’m sure you’ve taken many exams in your professional lives and you know that feeling only too well. If you’re getting ready for an English proficiency exam like TOEFL or IELTS, then how you prepare in the last couple of days before your exam can definitely affect the

Automaticity in Speaking

Jane Birkenhead • May 22, 2025

If the ONLY time you speak out loud in English is when you practise TOEFL or IELTS speaking questions, then you need to rethink your practice strategy. Both the TOEFL and IELTS speaking tests require exam candidates to demonstrate automaticity in speaking. Automaticity, in this case, means that you can quickly find the words that you want to use...

Prepare for the TOEFL Academic Discussion Writing Question

Jane Birkenhead • May 16, 2025

I see a lot of questions from students asking for resources about how to get ideas for writing task 2 in TOEFL, the academic discussion response. And there are indeed many resources devoted to this topic including the best Google searches and AI prompts to use. But I actually think this is the wrong approach. Let me

A Word About AI

I don't use AI for any of the writing on this website. These are my own thoughts and opinions, expressed using my own choice of words.

There is no doubt that AI has turned out to be incredibly useful for language learning - for both teachers and students. Depending on my clients' needs, I use a selection of AI tools and other technology. However, it's important to understand that AI is only a tool. It has limitations and can be unreliable.

AI is not a brain. It's just a data sorter. It's most effective when it's used as support for what you're doing and not as your only method of instruction.

Use AI tools to enhance your study experience, but check it carefully and make sure you get guidance from a human as well.