Interview With Thom Kiddle, DELTA Grad In Chile

I had the opportunity to do an email interview with Thom Kiddle. I introduce him with only his name because he is an interesting interviewee for a number of reasons, and they won’t all fit before his name!

First of all – and this is how I learned of Thom’s existence and finagled his email address – he is something of an occasional consultant to Grammarman creator Brian Boyd, and has had a connection since the very beginning of the superhero’s existence. Secondly, he had a rather unique experience with the DELTA; lastly, he does some neat stuff for his job: he works in Santiago, Chile, as head of an online evaluation team, and designs distance-learning courses for new teachers. He is the co-author of an IELTS preparation book and is also currently working on a new video-sharing website – www.yourskool.org – which is a place for schools (mainstream and language) to share best practices or other ideas, or just to show off what’s happening at their school.

In short, he’s a busy guy, but was kind enough to take the time to do a TEFL Logue interview anyhow. Find out his inside connection to Grammarman, his unique experience in and comments on the DELTA, and while you’re at it, get an idea of what Chile is like as an EFL destination as well.

“Starting with Grammarman, I feel honoured to have been there from the beginning – a chat with Brian in a pub when I was very impressed with the idea and had nothing but support … I take no credit for the fantastic work he has created but am proud to be someone he looks to to bounce ideas off or as a source of possible storylines. I can only
marvel at the amount of work he has put in and continues to dedicate to it. I love the way that the quality of drawing and the thought in the storylines carry the reader to the end, and then you are asked to go back and look at the puzzle – the perfect reading/grammar activity for me. I also really like the keen eye for a pun and a well-dropped name that he has, which make the TEFLer smile as they read… in terms of engaging a class of young learners, it’s unsurpassed.”

Thom has the unique claim to being the first person, since the addition of the third module to the DELTA, to get a distinction in all components. He’s quite modest about it, but check out what he has to say about his fifteen minutes of TEFL fame – as well as the DELTA in general and the distance DELTA in particular.

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