British English Lab

Whether it’s brushing up on rusty speaking skills, adding the final flourishes to your first novel, or
dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s of promotional materials, at British English Lab, Anna aims to give
you confidence in your use of English.

About Anna

A graduate of English from the University of London, Anna completed her Master’s in Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Kent in 1994. She worked briefly and quietly for the library service, but two years later, broke free of those dusty corridors to work with books more creatively and analytically, as copy-editor and production editor, then managing editor, for a publishing services company in Kent specialising in educational and academic books.

After ten years, she went freelance, continuing her editorial work for a variety of clients, broadening her subject areas and formats to include online publications. Following a serious pep talk from her husband (aka being shoved in front of a student on a computer screen with nothing but a handful of learning materials to hide her consternation), over the last five years, Anna has also been teaching English as a second language on italki, the online language-learning platform, alongside her editing.

Popular Courses

With more than 25 years’ experience in copy-editing, and 6 years’ teaching English as a second language on italki, Anna offers:

ESL Lessons

Anna offers five types of one-to-one lessons for ESL students anywhere in the world.

Copy-Editing

During the copy-editing process, Anna will check for spelling, grammar, punctuation, organisation, consistency and sense.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the checking of a set of typeset proofs (either on paper – a ‘hard’ copy – or a pdf) or otherwise completed version of a text prior to publication.

My students say

British English Lab

5.0

Based on 20 reviews

review us on

ぽーらり

22:34 15 Jul 24

I’ve been learning here for 7 months.Anna adjusts the level of the lessons appropriately according to your skills.And then I am given some homework every time.She corrects my homework in advance of my lesson.She is dedicated to teaching English and continue improving how to teach for me.I used to go to English school in Japan like Berlitz, where I had different teachers every time and introduced myself every time.She is better than Berlitz obviously.

Elena Kalinina

16:18 10 Jul 24

I study English with Anna and I think that it is very effective for me. A professional teacher helps me acquire not only English language skills, but also adapts me to the real use of new knowledge. As a net speaker, Anna gives a lot of useful practical information that cannot be found in textbooks. I am very grateful to Anna because I now feel more confident in daily communication in England! I recommend!

Ilia Gavrilov

17:48 19 Feb 24

I've been having English lessons with Anna for several months, mostly through italki, but had offline as well.Anna is a great teacher, the lessons are pretty tailored and flexible, which I like and that works for me, since I'm not preparing to any particular exam and don't have strict deadlines, so sometime we can lean more on just discussing different things and sometime focus on doing exercises from a book.In addition to being native speaker, she's a very well read person and even did some research on the accents. So, I think that she knows the language much deeper than the average native speaker and it's always interesting to discuss evolution of the language: how it's been changing and why, as well as different accents, since there are a lot of different British accents (like people say, that every 2 miles there is a village with their own accent).To sum up, I'm enjoying the lessons and would highly recommend Anna.

Dan Nott

21:16 18 Feb 24

Yves

19:40 18 Feb 24

I have been taking accent lessons with Anna for several months now and previously prepared myself for the proficiency exam with her help (rather successfully so, I might add) and I am more than pleased with her classes. As a language professional myself, I am picky when it comes to my teachers. I consider myself lucky to have chanced upon this gem of a teacher: Anna is always well-prepared, engaging, extremely savvy in all matters related to English and languages and a very decent human being. It’s rare to stumble upon a teacher who not solely does her job extremely well but also clearly takes pleasure in her craft. Thank you for everything, Anna☺️

Emily Choi

18:10 18 Feb 24

My neighbour and I have recently moved to the UK. Even though we are able to communicate in English, we find it very difficult to understand British English some of the time. That’s why we sought help from Anna.Anna is very professional. She spent time to understand our English level and our difficulties in communicating with local British before our first lesson. She tailor-made the classes to suit our needs instead of just giving us standard English lesson.We are learning not only slang words and expression but also the culture. We enjoy every lesson with Anna and strongly recommend her to anyone who would like to improve their English!

Frank Lensch

10:24 23 Mar 22

In the meantime I have known Anna for agesWe have already gone over so many pages.I completed many English exercises with herand each one gave me distinct pleasure.Because Anna is funny, friendly and niceand also accurate, meticulous and precise.She's an editor and knows her subject inside and out.She's an excellent teacher there is really no doubt.But there is something that is even more important for me.She became a good friend to a pronounced degree.I can talk to her in our lessons about anythingand I am always happy when she gives me a ring.

Deng Sasha

18:29 03 Jan 22

Anna really is one of the few native speakers I've met so far who really knows her language inside out. She really is what she mentions in herprofile. In fact, I even think she's the kind of person who tend to underpromise and overdeliver (which is the kind of personality I really admire) rather than the other way around.The editing given by Anna is as scrupulous and professional as always - this kind of consistency has really impressed me. What's impressed meeven more is her admirably conscientiousness of teaching and how kind and generous a help she has given me, answering all my questions with unsparing support, before, during or after class.I think I'm most lucky to have found Anna here - she's everything I needfor an English teacher: smart, intelligent, professional (she's like a magician when it comes to words!), conscientious, supportive, patient and responsible.So, to sum up, no matter how many times others or I have said, and however cliche this may sound, I will always viscerally say this again every time I have an opportunity to, that if you are looking for an English teacher, whether you want to improve your language skills or need help with editing, Anna definitely is your best choice, just as she is absolutely at the very top of my teacher list, which is born of my first-hand experiences!

cristina alarcón

12:10 10 Nov 21

Anna is wonderful. She is all I was looking for when I wanted someone to correct my mistakes. I was always said I speak good English but anybody can realise I'm not English at all, so something is not right. Anna corrects you every time you need it and helps to achieve a better English accent.

Jules Maley

21:11 04 Nov 21

Anna is an excellent English teacher. I have been working with her for over a year and could never have imagined the progress that can be made. I have learned many aspects of British sounds, speech rhythm, word stress, intonation, conversation, and reduction patterns. It was also extremely helpful to have Anna edit texts of mine. She has extensive experience as a professional editor and exceeded all my expectations.

Ju Hee Lim

11:04 03 Nov 21

She is a great teacher. When I read a book with her, she is being very patient and always guide me in a right way; checking my pronunciation and also teaching all sorts of English terms and useful terms. She is also professional in editing. With her, I believe I am learning a lot and improving my English. Always thank her!

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