Question: Why choose McCurley Consultancy?

Dear Reader:

This is just a short informal synopsis of my life so far, very informal, definitely not a cv, but I hope it gives you some idea of my background.

“I was born in Ireland a long time ago, in Belfast, the youngest addition to a loving extended family of Granny, mum, dad, uncles and 3 siblings. I was a bit of a nerd, and I always loved science. When I was 10 years old, I joined the Irish Astronomical Society and I dragged my parents along to monthly meetings in the ‘extra-mural conference room’ at Queen’s University in leafy south Belfast. My dad had bought me a 4” reflecting telescope and I used to love looking at the moon and Saturn’s rings in our back garden, back in the days when the skies were dark and unpolluted. Later, when ‘the troubles’ started, army helicopters hovering over our houses started to shine their searchlights down on our back gardens almost every night, so my mum said I could no longer use my telescope in case it would be mistaken for a bazooka. My stargazing career was over. Instead, I had to take up the guitar and so I started practising Leonard Cohen songs in the safety of our parlour every evening, while there was rioting and cars burning just down the street. The metamorphosis from Caterpillar/Astronomer to Butterfly/Guitarist was not so bad, of course, since guitar-playing was a prized skill among my adolescent peer group, and it meant that I was never bullied and was always invited to parties. But, at heart I was still a science nerd.

When I was 18, I returned to QUB to read anthropology, English language & literature, and psychology. I continued playing music, but around the time of my 20^th birthday, my musical ambitions were thwarted when I dropped a paving slab on the middle finger of my left hand, causing a hairline fracture. I’m right-handed, so I couldn’t even “tape a plec on” as was suggested by a helpful band member. I was unceremoniously chucked out of our group, Caveat Emptor, and then a week later they replaced me with some hippy keyboardist, and all went down to Dublin to headline a May Ball (supported by a then unknown Dublin band called U2). My father was killed in a road traffic accident around the same time, so it was a sad time for me and my family.

Despite my travails, I went to the USA and even later did fieldwork with the Navajo people at Fort Defiance, Arizona. A truly mind-blowing experience in the beautiful ancient canyons of the southwest. I had lost interest in academia, but I still managed to graduate, despite the nightly shenanigans in the Student Union, lured by cheap scrumpy cider, and the company of other musician ne’er-do-wells, messers all!

After graduation, I lived and worked in the USA for a couple of years, touring the west and playing guitar, and then worked for a geophysical exploration company, before returning to Ireland. When I went back it wasn’t the same as it had been in my student days. My friends had left and work was hard to find. I was bored and wanted to do something new and worthwhile, so I moved to London and found work with various NHS hospitals. The hospital for Neurology, The Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, The Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital…The pay wasn’t great, but I was living in the centre of London, working towards the greater good, and I was meeting great people ( including my lovely wife)  and having a ball.

Eventually I started working for University College London Hospital in the Bloomsbury area WC1 and I stayed there for around 10 years, and it was during this time I started my master’s degree in Applied Linguistics at Birkbeck, University of London. It was a reputable college just around the corner, and I could study in the evenings. I loved the subject, and I was learning about phonetics, neuroscience, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and all the nerdy scientific stuff I had loved as child. And… I was playing keyboards with all my best friends from Belfast in a band every Friday night. Halcyon days! I took my studies more seriously this time and was awarded an MA with distinction.

But then just before the old century faded out, my circumstances had changed again and so I had to return to Belfast. I started to play guitar and teach English once again. Then I decided then that I should consolidate my language studies, so I did my Cambridge CELTA Certification, which meant that I now had the proper TESOL accreditation to teach English in the world’s best language schools.

The most recent chapter of my life started when I arrived in Denmark in May 2005, two hours before my daughter was born. I have been living here in Hørsholm with my wife and daughter ever since, and I have been teaching here for all that time. During the period 2006 until 2019, I must have taught 1000+ students in all types of professional subject areas. Last year, I finally decided that it would be better to work for myself, because the teacher/student relationship is one based on trust and friendship, and does not rely on the interventions of a ‘middle-man’ or  third party. Now I can confidently say that I have the requisite skill set and experience to teach English at the highest professional and technical level. I hope that you will give me the chance to show you. Thanks for your kind attention. All the best, Gerard McCurley”