Ismail Berra | English Language Teacher & Teacher Trainer

Overview

Eight years, three countries.

everything here is real work, from real classrooms

I am a Moroccan English teacher, currently Lead Teacher at the Australian Centre for Education in Phnom Penh, part of IDP Education. I teach IELTS, General English, and English for Specific Purposes, and I lead a team of twenty-one international teachers. This site collects what I do, how I do it, and where I am heading.

Now

PlanningCambridge DELTA Module 2 from December 2026 and Module 1 in June 2027, to complete the full diploma. A goal for now, not a booking yet.
TrainingA ten-week How to Teach IELTS teacher-training course with teaching practice, starting 20 September 2026.
LeadingTwenty-one teachers at ACE, Phnom Penh, through this term's observation cycle and PD sessions.
BuildingThis portfolio, the next classroom game, and a growing library of IELTS materials.

8years teaching

3countries taught in: Morocco, Turkey, Cambodia

21teachers I lead and mentor

A1–C1CEFR levels taught

Teach

In the classroom

IELTS (Academic and General Training), General English, and ESP for teenagers, young adults, and adults, from beginner to advanced, plus corporate Teach and Train sessions for working teams.

How I teach

Train

With teachers

Observation cycles, developmental feedback, PD and sharing sessions, mentoring, and training new observers.

Leadership work

Build

Beyond the lesson

IELTS practice and mock-test apps, a room-booking tool, classroom games, ESP diploma courses, and a growing library of materials.

See projects

Kind words

What colleagues and learners say

one from the staffroom, one from the classroom

Ismail has solutions you would never expect until you follow them. He observed my class, saw me struggling with teacher talk time and nerves, and told me to step out for some water and trust the students to finish the task on their own. It changed how I see my role in class, and the anxiety eased.

Mark Mayran, teacher

The bestest and coolest teacher I’ve ever had.

Sovanphum, Creative Writing class

About

From Casablanca to Phnom Penh, and onward.

the short version of a long story

I started teaching in Mohammedia, Morocco, alongside two years in digital content work in Casablanca, where I first led a team. Then I took my CELTA at International House in Izmir and stayed on to teach at a Turkish school. I came home to teach young learners and tutor IELTS online, and in 2022 I moved to Cambodia to join the Australian Centre for Education, where I became Lead Teacher.

Somewhere along the way the work I cared about most shifted from my own lessons to the people teaching them. Today I spend most of my week helping other teachers do their best work: observing, giving feedback, running training, and building the tools that make lessons better. I grew up in Casablanca, and my next chapter is teacher training.

2017–19BA in English Literature, Mohammedia, then two years in digital content workcontent analyst, then leading seven moderators, Casablanca
2019CELTA, IH Izmirthen teaching ages 10 to 14 at Kocatürk Okulları, İzmir
2020–22IELTS tutoring and young learners, Morocco
2022Joined ACE, Phnom PenhLead Teacher
2025–26IH Director of Studies Certificate, DELTA Module 3 Pass
2026–27DELTA Modules 2 and 1, planned

Languages

Arabic, nativeEnglish, native-level (C1)French, intermediate

Places

Morocco, taughtTurkey, taughtCambodia, teaching nowSouth East Asia, travelledThe UAE, travelled

a travel enthusiast: term breaks are for new stamps in the passport

Teaching philosophy

What I believe, on the board.

the part I would write up first, every term

Language is learned by using it, not by hearing about it.

My approach is communicative at its core and adaptive in everything else. I treat methods and approaches the way a coach treats game plans: what I run depends on the pitch I am playing on and the players I have, the level, the culture, and the mood of the room that day. Football and chess are my two loves outside the classroom, and teaching gives me the same pleasure: read the position, pick the plan, be ready to change it.

South East Asia taught me that lesson properly. Many of my students grew up in classrooms where the teacher talks and the class listens, and at first even my favourite techniques from training courses could not draw them out. The answer was not the best method I ever learned. It was watching what my students could do that day and switching plans to push them one step further. Little by little, the same quiet classes became my most talkative ones.

read the pitch, pick the plan

A typical lesson, as I plan it a 50-minute communicative lesson, stage by stage
Stage	Aim	What happens	Interaction	Time
Lead-in	Set context, activate what learners already know	A personal question or an image; learners talk in pairs before anything is taught	S–S	5'
Language focus	Notice meaning, form, and pronunciation	Guided discovery from a short model text, with concept questions	T–S, S–S	12'
Controlled practice	Accuracy	Quick, tight tasks with immediate feedback and reformulation	S–S	10'
Freer practice	Fluency and real use	Role-play, discussion, or a task with a genuine outcome	S–S	18'
Feedback	Consolidate and correct	Delayed error correction; praise what worked and why	T–S	5'

And a real one

An observed lesson, as I actually planned it

IELTS Listening Section 3, GEP 11A, May 2026. snapshots only

The plan for a formally observed lesson: IELTS Listening Section 3 (note and table completion), taught through a jigsaw so that the students discovered the strategy and taught it to each other, with sports vocabulary as the sub-aim. The class description, the anticipated problems, and the personal aims at the top (teacher talk time, drawing in the quieter students, timing the stages) are the parts I care about most. The plan is on the ACE template.

Snapshot of the lesson plan's first page: class description, main and sub aims, personal CPD aims, and materials — **Class, aims, and my own aims**Who the students are, what they will be better able to do, and what I was working on in my own teaching.

Snapshot of the anticipated problems and solutions page: language, activities, and classroom management — **Anticipated problems and solutions**Language, the jigsaw itself, quieter students, and a paper back-up in case the technology fails.

Snapshot of the staged procedure page covering the vocabulary game, the pre-listening framing, and the jigsaw expert groups — **The staged procedure**Stage, aim, materials, time, and what the teacher and students do, with interaction patterns.

CEFR levels I teach

A1beginner

A2elementary

B1intermediate

B2upper-int.

C1advanced

C2proficiency

Communicative by default

Lessons are designed around tasks and interaction, so learners spend the hour producing language, not watching me produce it.

Planning with a purpose

Every stage has a reason and a clear outcome. I plan backwards from what learners should be able to do by the end.

Assessment that teaches

Feedback and marking are part of the learning, not a verdict after it, with a particular focus on IELTS writing and speaking gains.

Technology with intent

I build my own practice tools and games, but only where they make a lesson clearer, faster, or more engaging than paper would.

An inspiration

A voice I keep coming back to

pinned above my desk

Paulo Freire, seated, in a grey jumper, with a white beard and glasses — Paulo Freire

“Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and whoever learns teaches in the act of learning.”

Paulo FreireBrazilian educator, 1921 to 1997. From Pedagogy of Freedom (1998).

Freire is the thinker I return to most. His idea that teaching is a dialogue, and that a classroom is a place where everyone in it is learning, the teacher included, sits behind most of what is on this site: the observation cycle, the way I mark, the way I plan.

Case studies

Things I designed and built for real classrooms.

the problem, what I built, what changed

Case study 01 · Web, IELTS

GILC IELTS Practice Hub

The problem

Our computer-lab sessions needed structured IELTS practice that matched the Cambridge book each class was working from, without teachers rebuilding it every week and without sending students to sites that push study-abroad ads.

What I built

A hub site with three modes, Diagnose, Practise, and Test, for Reading and Writing, with separate practice apps per class level (GEP 11A, 11B, and 12), aligned to the assigned Cambridge IELTS tests and deployed on Netlify. A one-page teacher guide explains how the three lab visits fit together.

What changed

Used in every lab session across three classes for the term, with teachers' feedback on answer keys and vocabulary folded back into updates.

add a number when you have one: average band gain, or hours saved per week

See the teacher guide

Home page of the GILC IELTS Practice hub: tap your class (GEP 11A, 11B, 12), then today's session: find your weakest skill, practise that skill, take a mock test — tap your class, then today's session

Snapshot of page one of the GILC IELTS Practice Sessions teacher guide, Term 3 2026, with a PREVIEW watermark

Attached: the teacher guide

One page for the teachers who run the sessions

Each GEP 11A, 11B, and 12 class visits the GILC up to three times a term, so I wrote a one-page guide to go with the hub: what each visit is for (diagnose, practise, test), what the teacher does while students work, and where the materials are. Their own materials are welcome; the website is a help, not a rule.

snapshot only, not for download

Case study 02 · Curriculum

ESP Diploma Courses

The problem

University students needed English for real academic and professional tasks, presenting, arguing a case, handling academic vocabulary, and general coursebook units were not getting them there.

What I built

Twelve English for Specific Purposes diploma courses, including Public Speaking, Debate, Academic Vocabulary, and Creative Thinking and Problem Solving, each with clear outcomes and assessments.

What changed

Students leave with a portfolio of real performances, a speech, a debate, a solved problem, rather than a grade on a grammar test.

add a number: cohorts taught, or completion rate

Ismail with his first Public Speaking class, students making peace signs in front of the projector screen, students' faces covered with smileys — my first Public Speaking class, 2023

Ismail with a bank team after a Teach and Train session on professional writing, students' faces covered with smileys — Teach and Train: professional writing for a banking team

Case study 03 · Corporate training

Professional Writing for a bank

The format

A Teach and Train (TNT) programme delivered for a bank group: a working team rather than a class, with the writing they do every day as the material.

The focus

Professional writing: clear, well-structured emails, reports, and client communication that read well the first time.

What changed

Trainees built a bank of relatable, job-specific vocabulary, read dozens of real workplace texts, and worked through writing workshop after writing workshop, producing clear, clean memos, emails, reports, and client communication of their own.

Built for the school

Apps I made for ACE.

real screenshots, click any of them to enlarge

Every app on this page was designed and coded by me for the Australian Centre for Education (ACE) in Phnom Penh, where I teach, and is used by our students and teachers.

IELTS Discovery · Meet the IELTS

Web app · Open Day

IELTS Discovery

An Open Day introduction to the IELTS for our students: what the test is, how the four skills work, what a real question feels like, a mini test, and the band scale, with the ACE graduation requirement (overall band 5, no skill below 4) explained in plain words. Made so that students meet the exam long before they sit it.

Discover
Reading
Writing
Listening
Speaking
Mini test
Band scale

IELTS Writing · Mock Exam

Web app · IELTS Writing

IELTS Writing Mock Exam

Academic Task 1 and Task 2 in 60 minutes, under real exam conditions: the spell-checker is off, copy and paste is disabled, and the test submits itself when the timer reaches zero. Students get automated feedback on their scripts; teachers sign in to a dashboard where each of them reviews only their own students’ submissions.

Task 1 + Task 2
60-minute timer
Exam conditions
Automated feedback
Teacher dashboard

ACE Reading · IELTS Reading Mock Test

ACE Reading start page: IELTS Reading Mock Test, three passages, forty questions, sixty minutes, with a school-email sign-in

Web app · IELTS Reading

ACE Reading: IELTS Reading Mock Test

Five full Academic Reading tests, three passages each, 200 questions in all. A 60-minute timer, a highlight tool like the real computer-delivered test, and instant band-scored feedback with personalised advice, automated in line with the IELTS website and the public band descriptors. Progress is saved to the student’s record, so teachers can see it later.

5 full tests
200 questions
60-minute timer
Highlight tool
Instant band score
Saved progress

GEP Writing · Practice

Web app · General English

GEP Writing Practice

The same exam-style writing app, rebuilt for lower General English levels, with a task per level (GEP 10, for example, writes a process description). I made it with the academic team and IT to digitise the writing assessment and get students used to the IELTS writing format early, on a computer, against a clock. Teachers review their own classes on a dashboard.

Timed writing
One task per level
Spell-check off
Auto-submit
Teacher dashboard

GILC Space Booking · Term 2026-T3

Internal tool · Logistics

GILC Space Booking

The problem

Teachers booked the GILC (our Guided Integrated Learning Centre) through a pile of spreadsheets, and bookings kept overlapping. I proposed a single calendar and built it.

What I built

A weekly calendar for Discussion Room 1 and 2, the GILC Main Area, and 30-minute LLA slots. A teacher taps a free slot to request it, the request goes for approval, and every slot shows its status: free, pending, booked, GILC session, or online class. It is term-based, with a cap of ten bookings per teacher.

What changed

Good feedback from the team, fewer clashes, and better traffic and communication between staff, because everyone looks at the same calendar.

Weekly calendar
Request and approve
Four spaces
Term-based
10 bookings per teacher

Try one of my games

Red Pen: spot the mistake

the kind of thing I build for a five-minute warmer

Each sentence has one wrong word. Click it. Correct it in your head before you look.

1 / 8

A game I designed

IELTS Speaking Test Board Game

122 cards, one board, snapshots only

A Monopoly-style speaking game for IELTS groups. Players roll, move around the board, and answer a real IELTS question on every square, judged by a referee to the standard of the test. There are Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 decks, fluency, forfeit, and jail-question cards, power cards to block, reverse, or tax the other players, and IELTS Money to buy districts and pay rent. Everyone starts with 18 IM; no money and no deal means jail, and the way out is a good answer.

Snapshot of the board game booklet cover: Speaking Test Board Game, 122 cards, power cards, IELTS Money — **The booklet**Cover, how to play, challenge rules, and the money and jail rules.

Snapshot of the game board: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 squares around the edge, fluency, jail question, and forfeit piles in the middle, and the how-to-play summary — **The board**Part 1 squares on the way out, Topic Talk and Discussion squares on the way back, and the card piles in the middle.

Snapshot of a sheet of Part 1 interview cards, each with a question and two follow-ups — **Question cards**Each card carries a real Part 1, 2, or 3 question with follow-ups the other players can ask.

Snapshot of a sheet of power cards: Block, +2, +4, and Reverse — **Power cards**Block a question, reverse it onto someone else, or make another player pay.

Snapshot of the how-to-play page: the object of the game, setting up, and the rules for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 squares — **How to play**The object of the game, the referee, and what happens on each kind of square.

Teacher leadership & development

The work that points toward training.

most of my week goes here

As Lead Teacher I am the bridge between the academic team and the teachers. Most of my week goes on helping other teachers do their best work, and the observation cycle below is how that happens.

Ismail presenting the IELTS 9-band scale on a large screen at an IELTS masterclass run for IDP, with the audience seen from behind — Running an IELTS masterclass at the invitation of IDP

1
Pre-observation chatAgree a focus with the teacher: what they want to work on.
2
ObservationWatch the lesson with that focus in mind; notes, not judgements.
3
Feedback conversationTeacher reflects first, then evidence, then next steps.
4
Development goalOne concrete, achievable change for the next lessons.
5
Follow-upPeer observation or a check-in to see the change land.

An observation in progress: the teacher with the class, seen over the observer's laptop, which shows the lesson plan with notes in red; faces covered with smileys — Observing: the class, the plan, and my notes

The teacher at the board during an observed reading lesson, with the observer's laptop and typed notes in the foreground; faces covered with smileys — Notes typed live, against the teacher’s own plan

step 2 in real life: the plan open on my laptop, evidence with times, no verdicts yet

AreaWhat I do
Mentoring✓ Lead and mentor 21 international teachers, as the main point of contact between the academic coordinator and the teaching team.
Observation✓ Run lesson-observation cycles with developmental feedback, and train and support new observers.
Development✓ Design and deliver PD and sharing sessions, run IELTS training for teachers (including an IELTS masterclass at the invitation of IDP), and identify training needs through ongoing needs analysis.
Onboarding✓ Interview, induct, and onboard new staff, and arrange mentors, peer observations, and level moderators.
Standards✓ Support curriculum and syllabus design, quality assurance, and NEAS accreditation compliance.
Students✓ Counsel students on attendance, motivation, and level, and track placement, enrolment, and retention data.

The observation toolkit

The paperwork behind the process

the six-document toolkit I use with my team, redesigned in 2026, shown as snapshots

One five-step cycle, one four-point scale, and the teacher gets the first word. A cover page explains the system, three forms cover informal drop-ins and formal reports for new and experienced teachers, an action plan turns feedback into one concrete change, and a criteria rubric defines every rating so the standard is never a surprise.

Snapshot of the toolkit cover page: the observation cycle and which form to use when — **How the toolkit works**The cycle, which form when, the scale, and three principles.

Snapshot of the lesson observation feedback report for new teachers — **Feedback report**Agreed focus, strengths and areas to develop with evidence, the teacher's own reflection first, then criteria.

Snapshot of the action plan and reflection form — **Action plan and reflection**One goal, resources, what changed, what it did, and a follow-up date.

Snapshot of the observation criteria descriptors rubric — **Criteria descriptors**What each rating means, criterion by criterion, colour-coded so observers and teachers read the same standard.

Classroom toolkit

IELTS practice site (built)NotebookLM slidesLearning management systemsGoogle WorkspaceZoom and MeetMicrosoft OfficeInteractive games

Made by me

Links to the things I built.

everything here is mine; the apps are shown as screenshots

Everything on this page is mine: practice sites, apps, classroom games, and materials I designed. The apps were built for the Australian Centre for Education (ACE), where I teach, so they are shown here as screenshots rather than links.

Websites and appsShown as screenshots

WebsiteGILC IELTS Practice HubDiagnose, practise, and test: the IELTS platform I built for our computer-lab sessions at ACESee screenshots AppIELTS DiscoveryAn Open Day introduction to the IELTS for ACE students: the four skills, a mini test, and the band scaleSee screenshots AppIELTS Writing Mock ExamAcademic Task 1 and 2 in 60 minutes under exam conditions, with automated feedback and a teacher dashboardSee screenshots AppACE Reading: IELTS Reading Mock TestFive full Academic tests, a 60-minute timer, a highlight tool, and instant band-scored feedbackSee screenshot AppGEP Writing PracticeTimed, exam-style writing for lower General English levels, one task per level, with a teacher dashboardSee screenshots ToolGILC Space BookingA weekly booking calendar for the GILC rooms, with requests, approvals, and a per-teacher capSee screenshot

GamesSnapshots only

GameIELTS Speaking Test Board GameA Monopoly-style speaking game with 122 question, power, and money cards, made for ACESee snapshots

Materials I designedSnapshots, not downloads

ToolkitLesson observation toolkitSix documents: cover, informal observation, feedback reports for new and experienced teachers, action plan, criteria rubricSee snapshots Lesson planAn observed IELTS Listening lessonSection 3 through a jigsaw: class description, aims, anticipated problems, and the staged procedureSee snapshots

Blog

Thoughts on education, mostly from the Global South.

written whenever the staffroom is quiet

Notes on teaching English where the resources are thin and the ambition is not: classrooms in Morocco and Cambodia, teacher development, IELTS, and whatever else is on my mind that week.

Loading posts…

My library

The books behind the practice.

80 titles on the shelf, and a form to ask for one

This is my professional library, built up over eight years and a DELTA: the methodology I teach from, the assessment literature behind my IELTS work, and the reading that got me into leadership. Colleagues are welcome to ask to borrow a title, one at a time.

80 titles

Teaching methodology and practice 39

Learning Teaching: A Guidebook for English Language TeachersJim Scrivener
Classroom Management TechniquesJim Scrivener
Teaching English Grammar: What to Teach and How to Teach ItJim Scrivener
The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th edition)Jeremy Harmer
How to Teach EnglishJeremy Harmer
How to Teach WritingJeremy Harmer
50 Communicative ActivitiesJeremy Harmer
How to Teach VocabularyScott Thornbury
How to Teach GrammarScott Thornbury
How to Teach SpeakingScott Thornbury
Uncovering GrammarScott Thornbury
Beyond the Sentence: Introducing Discourse AnalysisScott Thornbury
An A to Z of ELT, and The New A to Z of ELT (2017)Scott Thornbury
How to Teach PronunciationGerald Kelly
How to Teach for ExamsSally Burgess and Katie Head
Teaching Exam ClassesPeter May
Learning to Teach English: A Practical Introduction for New TeachersPeter Watkins
Teach English as a Foreign LanguageDavid Riddell
Teaching Practice: A Handbook for Teachers in TrainingRoger Gower, Diane Phillips and Steve Walters
Practical Techniques for Language TeachingMichael Lewis and Jimmie Hill
Planning Lessons and CoursesTessa Woodward
Concept Questions and TimelinesGraham Workman
Tasks for Language TeachersMartin Parrott
The Language Teaching MatrixJack C. Richards
Teaching and Learning in the Language ClassroomTricia Hedge
Doing Task-based TeachingDave Willis and Jane Willis
A Framework for Task-based LearningJane Willis
Rules, Patterns and WordsDave Willis
Conversation (Resource Books for Teachers)Rob Nolasco and Lois Arthur
Pronunciation GamesMark Hancock
Sound FoundationsAdrian Underhill
Teaching TensesRosemary Aitken
Teaching Writing SkillsDonn Byrne
Teaching the Spoken LanguageGillian Brown and George Yule
Speaking (Language Teaching: A Scheme for Teacher Education)Martyn Bygate
Listening in the Language ClassroomJohn Field
English for Specific Purposes: A Learning-centred ApproachTom Hutchinson and Alan Waters
Strategies for Success: A Practical Guide to Learning EnglishH. Douglas Brown
The Natural ApproachStephen Krashen and Tracy Terrell

Assessment and testing 13

Testing for Language TeachersArthur Hughes
Language Testing (Oxford Introductions to Language Study)Tim McNamara
Language Test Construction and EvaluationJ. Charles Alderson, Caroline Clapham and Dianne Wall
Assessing ReadingJ. Charles Alderson
Diagnosing Foreign Language ProficiencyJ. Charles Alderson
Language Testing and Assessment, Parts 1 and 2J. Charles Alderson and Jayanti Banerjee
Exploring Language Assessment and TestingGlenn Fulcher
The Cambridge Guide to Second Language AssessmentCoombe, Davidson, O'Sullivan and Stoynoff
From Testing to Assessment: English as an International LanguageClifford Hill and Kate Parry
IELTS Washback in Context: Preparation for Academic Writing (Studies in Language Testing 25)Anthony Green
Examining Writing (Studies in Language Testing 29)Stuart Shaw and Cyril Weir
Fundamental Considerations in Language TestingLyle Bachman
High-Stakes Testing and English Language Learnerspaper

Second language acquisition and skills 9

How Languages Are LearnedPatsy Lightbown and Nina Spada
Second Language AcquisitionRod Ellis
Input in Second Language AcquisitionSusan Gass and Carolyn Madden, editors
Fossilization in Adult Second Language AcquisitionZhaoHong Han
A Cognitive Approach to Language LearningPeter Skehan
Reading in a Second Language: Moving from Theory to PracticeWilliam Grabe
Reading in a Second Language: Process, Product and PracticeA. H. Urquhart and C. J. Weir
Teaching and Researching Writing (4th edition)Ken Hyland
Moving Beyond the PlateauJack C. Richards

Language, grammar and discourse 15

Practical English Usage (3rd edition)Michael Swan
Learner EnglishMichael Swan and Bernard Smith
Grammar for English Language TeachersMartin Parrott
Explaining English GrammarGeorge Yule
The English Verb: An Exploration of Structure and MeaningMichael Lewis
Cambridge Grammar of EnglishRonald Carter and Michael McCarthy
A Concise Grammar for English Language TeachersTony Penston
Discourse Analysis for Language TeachersMichael McCarthy
DiscourseGuy Cook
Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research SettingsJohn Swales
English Grammar in UseRaymond Murphy
MyGrammarLab B1 to B2, and C1 to C2Mark Foley and Diane Hall
Ship or Sheep? and Tree or Three?Ann Baker
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
American English File 3Oxford University Press

Leadership and management 4

Leaders Eat LastSimon Sinek
Daring GreatlyBrené Brown
How to Manage PeopleMichael Armstrong
From Teacher to Manager: Managing Language Teaching OrganizationsWhite, Hockley, van der Horst Jansen and Laughner

Borrow a book

Ask for a title

for colleagues, one book at a time

In the classroom

See the teaching, not just read about it.

one lesson, filmed from the back of the room

Teaching demo · IELTS Reading

A reading lesson, run as a jigsaw and a scavenger hunt

Reading skills, but not a quiet room. Students first work in expert groups on different parts of the text and teach each other what they found, then race through a scavenger hunt to locate the answers in the passage. The reading strategy is discovered, not announced.

Jigsaw reading
Scavenger hunt
Expert groups
Filmed in class

students’ faces blurred; filmed in portrait, so watch it like a phone

Ismail presenting the IELTS 9-band scale at an IELTS masterclass for IDP — IELTS masterclass, invited by IDP

Ismail and his Public Speaking students, 2023, students' faces covered with smileys — Public Speaking, 2023

Teach and Train session with a bank team, students' faces covered with smileys — Teach and Train, corporate writing

Ismail with a group of students on their last day of term, the students' faces covered with smiley emojis — Last day of term with my students

A hall set up for the Mock IELTS: one student per desk on laptops, faces covered with smiley emojis — Mock IELTS I organise, exam conditions

Another view of the Mock IELTS hall, students working on laptops at single desks, faces covered with smiley emojis — Mock IELTS, one desk each, timed

Ismail with students in the GILC computer lab during a writing-only mock session, the practice hub on every screen; students' faces covered with smileys — Writing-only mock, three days before the real test

Ismail in a CamTESOL lanyard in front of the conference arch, 22nd Annual CamTESOL Conference, Phnom Penh, February 2026 — CamTESOL 2026, at the door

Ismail in a cream jacket with a fellow delegate at the 22nd Annual CamTESOL Conference — CamTESOL 2026, between sessions

The smileys are on purpose: my students’ privacy comes before my portfolio.

Qualifications

Trained, and still training.

a report card I am happy to show

Report cardIsmail Berra · ELT

Cambridge DELTA Module 3Extending Practice and ELT Specialism · IELTS Preparation · June 2026 session
2026Pass
IH Director of Studies CertificateInternational House OTTI · February to April 2025
2025Pass
CELTACambridge Assessment English · International House, Izmir · June to July 2019
2019Pass
BA in English Studies, LiteratureHassan II University of Casablanca · Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Mohammedia
2017Pass

Cambridge
DELTA M3
Pass

Download full CV

Future plans

What’s next

2026–27, plannedCambridge DELTA Modules 2 and 1, completing the full diplomathe goal: Module 2 from December 2026, done by June 2027, then Module 1 in June 2027; not yet registered with a centre

Certificates

The paper behind the report card

the qualifications are blurred on purpose; employers can request copies below

Qualifications

Cambridge DELTA Module Three statement of results: Pass, June 2026 session — **Cambridge DELTA Module Three**Statement of Results · Pass · June 2026 (certificate to follow)

IH Director of Studies Certificate, Pass, IH OTTI, 2025 — **IH Director of Studies Certificate**International House OTTI · Pass · 2025

Cambridge English Level 5 Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA), Pass, August 2019 — **CELTA**Cambridge Assessment English · International House, Izmir · Pass · August 2019

Licence d'Etudes Fondamentales, Etudes Anglaises, parcours Littérature, Hassan II University of Casablanca, 12 July 2017 (original diploma in French and Arabic, personal details blurred) — **BA in English Studies, Literature**Hassan II University of Casablanca, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Mohammedia · original diploma, 12 July 2017

Bachelor's Degree of Fundamental Studies in English Studies, major Literature, Hassan II University of Casablanca, 2017 (sworn translation) — **BA, sworn English translation**The same diploma, translated and certified for use abroad · 2017

Teacher training, conferences, and webinars

IDP Education presenter recognition letter: Ismail Berra presented a 30-minute paper on Dogme methodology at the 21st Annual CamTESOL Conference, February 2025 — **CamTESOL 2025, presenter**IDP Education · 30-minute paper on Dogme methodology · 21st Annual CamTESOL Conference, Phnom Penh, February 2025

IDP IELTS Writing Teacher Training Program certificate: Understanding the IELTS Assessment Criteria, December 2023 — **IELTS Writing Teacher Training Program**IDP Education · Understanding the IELTS Assessment Criteria · December 2023

IDP IELTS Speaking Teacher Training Program certificate: Understanding the IELTS Assessment Criteria, December 2023 — **IELTS Speaking Teacher Training Program**IDP Education · Understanding the IELTS Assessment Criteria · December 2023

Oxford University Press certificate of attendance: Beyond the Screen, Making Virtual Language Classrooms Engaging and Inclusive, July 2026 — **Beyond the Screen**Oxford University Press professional development webinar · July 2026

British Council ASEAN TeachingEnglish Online Conference 2024 certificate — **ASEAN TeachingEnglish Online Conference**British Council · Language, power and education (Rose Aylett) · October 2024

For employers

Request copies of my certificates

the originals stay private; verified copies go to employers and institutions

The qualification documents above are blurred on purpose. If you are hiring or need to verify a qualification, tell me who you are and which documents you need, and I will send clear copies directly to you.

Professional development

Keeping current

conferences, webinars, and courses

2026How to Teach IELTS teacher-training course, with the teaching practice component: ten weeks from 20 September 2026
2026Oxford University Press professional development webinar: Beyond the Screen: Making Virtual Language Classrooms Engaging and Inclusive, July 2026
2025Presenter, 21st Annual CamTESOL Conference on English Language Teaching, Phnom Penh: a 30-minute paper on Dogme methodology, February 2025
2024British Council ASEAN TeachingEnglish Online Conference: Language, power and education: five principles for a critical language pedagogy, Rose Aylett, October 2024
2023IDP IELTS Teacher Training Program, Writing and Speaking modules: Understanding the IELTS Assessment Criteria, endorsed under English Australia's CPD framework, December 2023
YearlyCamTESOL Conference, Phnom Penh: attending every year, and guiding my teachers to present and attend
OngoingInternal PD, observation training, and academic management sessions with ACE and IDP Education

Open to teaching and teacher-training roles.

And to conversations about both. If you are building a school or a training centre, I would like to hear from you.

berraismail5@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/ismail-berra Phnom Penh, Cambodia · Casablanca, Morocco