John Blanchard grew up in southwest London, UK. While at school and university he had temporary jobs in London, Bremen and Frankfurt, in a chandlery, the Royal Mail, an electric hammer factory, a department store, a coffee factory and teaching English. Then, as a school teacher, he focused on how language can be used to help people teach and learn better. He worked with colleagues in higher education, and continued doing so as an education consultant. Along the way he has learned from those he has met in conversation, through reading, viewing visual media and, perhaps most powerfully, by studying and working together.