OTE, Opportunities Through English
Why Opportunities Through English?
English is learned by millions of people because they believe it can lead to something — education, employment, international business, mobility, confidence or greater opportunity.
And often it does.
But learning English and achieving something because of it are not the same thing.
Opportunities Through English was created to explore, and help close, that gap.
OTE brings together practical insight, experience, advice and connections to help organisations think more clearly about what they are trying to achieve through English — and what needs to happen beyond the learning itself.
A professional voice and a network, not a language school.
OTE doesn’t teach English or promote one particular learning solution.
We look more broadly at the relationship between English and the opportunities people and organisations hope it will create.
That might mean helping an employer think differently about workforce English; a university connect language learning more closely with progression and employability; an education provider strengthen its offer or partnerships; or an organisation identify the right people and expertise to help move an idea forward.
Sometimes that leads to an OTE project or advisory relationship. Sometimes it leads to an introduction. And sometimes the most useful outcome is simply a clearer understanding of what to do next.
Advice first. Opportunity second.
A few principles behind OTE
English is a means, not the end.
Success isn’t simply completing a course or achieving a level. The more important question is what someone can do because of it.
Start with the outcome.
Before choosing a programme, provider or partner, understand what you’re actually trying to change or achieve.
One answer rarely fits everyone.
Different learners, organisations, countries and circumstances require different approaches.
Experience should create better questions, not fixed answers.
Education, technology and work are changing too quickly to assume that yesterday’s solution is automatically today’s.
Useful relationships matter.
The right introduction or collaboration can sometimes achieve more than another product or programme.
Understand first. Be useful.
OTE starts with the question, challenge or opportunity rather than with a predetermined solution.
From there, we may provide insight or advice, undertake a defined piece of work, help shape a partnership, make a useful introduction or bring in other expertise.
Where there is a commercial relationship, we believe it should be clear, appropriate and transparent.
Founded on experience. Designed to become more than one person’s perspective.
David de Jager’s career has spanned English-language education, international business, technology and partnerships, giving him the opportunity to see English and the opportunities associated with it from many different perspectives.
After studying law, his first-hand experience of English-language education began in the classroom. His career subsequently moved through international and commercial roles, including time with The Economist Group, before taking him into entrepreneurship, online education and international business development.
David founded Perfectly Spoken, an online English-learning platform serving learners internationally, and led the business until its acquisition by Lingu in 2025. He continues to work with Lingu in an advisory and business-development capacity. Opportunities Through English is an entirely independent venture.
His experience working with organisations and people across different countries and cultures has reinforced a simple belief: English matters most when it helps someone achieve something that matters to them.
That thinking lies behind OTE — combining experience with curiosity, useful insight and the expertise and connections of others.
David’s approach is deliberately relationship-led: understand first, be useful, and then see whether there is a reason to work together.
Better ideas usually involve more than one perspective.
OTE is being built as a network as well as a professional voice.
Over time, that means bringing together people and organisations with relevant experience across education, employment, technology, international business, policy and other areas connected with opportunity through English.
We won’t pretend the network is bigger than it is. It will grow through useful relationships, credible contributions and genuine reasons to work together — not simply by accumulating names and logos.
Interested in working with OTE?
Whether you have a question, a challenge, an idea or an opportunity, we’d be interested to hear from you.