Additional booking channel · Now accepting studentsLearn English with James on Preply.
James Corden-Lloyd has coached tennis and taught English since 2010, and has been accepted as an English tutor on Preply after the platform's own vetting process. Lessons there follow the same CEFR-aligned structure used at Topball Tennis and ESL/ESP English School — sport is the classroom, and you speak from the first minute.
Preply is an additional way to book. Enquiries sent through this site still reach James directly — same teacher, same prepared lessons.
Why book with James
Direct access to a method built on court since 2010
James Corden-Lloyd has coached tennis and taught English since 2010 — Jakarta, Johor, and now Cebu, year-round. On Preply you book that same teacher directly: every lesson is prepared by James himself, drawn from the Topball CEFR A1–C1 courseware he wrote.
One teacher, not a marketplace
You are not handed to a pool of tutors. The person on the profile is the person in the lesson, and he remembers what you worked on last time.
Sport is the classroom
The unique Topball method uses tennis, football and rugby as the context for every speaking task — the vocabulary you rehearse is language you use the same day.
Speak from the first minute
No long grammar lectures. You talk about real sport from minute one, and the coach quietly corrects and upgrades what you actually say.
Written feedback after every lesson
Each session ends with notes on what improved and the two things to fix next, so progress is visible lesson by lesson.
Two ways in
Tap the button, or point your phone camera at the code. Both open the same tutor profile, where you can see live availability and book a trial lesson.
Open my Preply profileWhat a lesson looks like
Every session is built from the Topball manuals — English through tennis, football and rugby — so the language you learn is language you use immediately.
Warm-up talk
Two or three minutes on a sport topic — a match you watched, a drill you liked, a decision a player made. Speaking starts from the first minute, not after the grammar explanation.
Language of the session
Vocabulary and structures pulled from the Topball manuals: describing and comparing, giving an opinion with reasons, narrating a sequence of play. These are the moves IELTS and TOEFL speaking and writing tasks ask for.
Task under time
You explain a drill, review a rally or argue a tactic inside a set time — the same pressure a real exam puts on you, with the coach controlling the difficulty.
Written feedback
After each lesson you get notes on what improved and the two things to work on next, so the following lesson starts from where you actually are.
Levels and exam focus
A1 to C1, with the A2–B2 band built for IELTS and TOEFL
Complete courseware covers CEFR A1 to C1. The A2–B2 band practises the speaking and writing task formats used in IELTS and TOEFL: describing and comparing, giving an opinion with reasons, and reviewing events in writing. These are English-learning materials, not official exam papers. They support preparation, never guarantee a score.
How to start
Open the profile
The profile shows live availability and the trial lesson price in your own currency.
Book the trial
Tell James your current level and the score or goal you are working towards.
Come prepared
The first session is built around your target — exam score, study or work English, or speaking confidently about sport.
Questions before you book?
Message James directly — your goal, your level, your sport. He replies personally.
Prefer to start here first?
Open a free sample from any of the three manuals — no email required — or send James a message and he will reply personally.