I was born in Australia where I obtained a BA, Dip Ed. from the University of Queensland. I taught English literature in Australian schools for a few years before moving to France in 1967. I worked at the University of Franche-Comté in the Applied Linguistics Centre from 1968 until I retired, teaching English and sometimes French in intensive courses.

I met Caleb Gattegno for the first time in 1971 in Geneva where I saw him teach a Chinese lesson. This was the most intense experience I had ever had in a classroom and I knew immediately that I wanted to be able to teach like that.

The subject of my doctoral thesis was Caleb Gattegno, his model and its relevance to his work in language teaching. I have published many articles on teaching and the Silent Way.

I worked for Une Education Pour Demain, a volunteer association involved in teacher training, from the beginning of the 1980's until 2014. I worked as a teacher trainer for Actualis Formation until the COVID pandemic. I now work from home, writing and teaching and doing teacher training (Teacher training can be anything between a two day course on a specific subject and a five year program designed to produce a new generation of teacher trainers.)

Piers Messum and I launched Pronunciation Science Ltd in 2011 to conduct research into pronunciation and pronunciation teaching and to work towards excellence in this field.