Tom Alan

Tom was born in London to Irish parents, one from the north, the other from the south. He clearly caught his parents’ wanderlust; as a primary-school teacher he has taught in the UK, Kuwait, Japan and (currently) Spain. When a headteacher (in his wisdom) decreed that male teachers had to wear ties, Tom purchased a variety of ‘comedy’ ties so that the 7-year-olds in his class wouldn’t mistake him for a bank manager. The tie in the picture features London buses, a favourite of the children who were delighted (and scandalised) to hear that ‘in the olden days’ you could jump on and off at will, sometimes ‘accidentally’ saving the fare to spend on sweets.

Using the pseudonym Jeremy Dean, he has written columns for the Times Educational Supplement, Teach Primary magazine and Babel: the Language Magazine. He writes about linguistics and teaching English to foreign students. He has written a ‘fictionalised’ account of his experiences teaching Spanish junior children, in English, in Spain: Zen Kyu Maestro: An English Teacher’s Spanish Adventure was published as an eBook by Monday Books in 2013. He currently writes a monthly column on expat life and the quirks of the English language for Poble, Vila-real’s town magazine. 

He plays tennis and squash, and enjoys photographing weird and wonderful Spanish fiestas – especially those involving fireworks. He can cook a decent paella.

Since 2006 he and his wife, Jill, have lived in a small town just north of Valencia. They are both season-ticket holders at Villarreal Club de Fútbol and enjoy walking in the mountains of Castellón. They are both keen (although not always competent) students of the Spanish language: Tom once asked a waitress for two kisses when he meant two glasses, and Jill is famous in the local ice-cream shop for requesting two cockroaches instead of two cornets.

He blogs photographs and anecdotes from Spanish life inside and outside the classroom at http://zenkyumaestro.blogspot.com and he’s on Twitter @JeremyJoseDean and @A14nThompson