How I Work ?
since 2004
Individual or Groups ?
Most of the people coming to me want one to one sessions, but I can always work with pairs of small groups (up to four online). I’m comfortable working in a classroom with anything from 5 – 30 and have adapted to many different situations teaching groups. Since the onset of the pandemic and moving more of my teaching online, I’ve learned what works, what doesn’t work and what needs to be changed and adapted for the constraints of a video / telephone session.
EXAM PREPARATION
Exam Preparation
I’ve been preparing students for TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, PET, KET since 2014 and have particular strengths at helping candidates improve their writing skills. I’ve also prepared students for concours at Grands Ecoles in France including a candidate who successfully gained entry to Sciences Po in Paris. I have a track record of getting students through tests and exams and can provide attestations to this effect.
GAMES
Games
I’ve found several games which have adapted themselves well to working online such as Sussed, DIXIT and Word on the Street. These are especially popular with younger students and are a great way to get you speaking in a relaxed and fun way while building your vocabulary. There’s greater scope for using board games in face to face lessons and this is some thing I always use in classes. For example I recently adapted the ‘Jeopardy’ quiz game to teach basic grammar and vocabulary for people training to acquire a taxi drivers licence.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment
First is an assessment, carried out during a free trial session, when you can tell me your needs and we can together devise the best strategy to meet these. I may also get you to complete a level test in order to find out your actual level using the Common European Framework (A2 – C2). From there we can have some idea of how long it will take you to reach your desired level.
COURSEBOOKS
Coursebooks
For people wanting to reach a specified level for example moving from A2 to B1 or B2, we’ll use a coursebook such as English Result, Business Result, Business Benchmark, Face 2 Face. For teenagers I use Interactive, Engage as well as resources from Scholastic. For these sessions, 90 minutes is the optimum time and I offer blocks of 3 X 90 minutes.
MAINTENANCE AND PRACTICE
Maintenance and Practice
I will get you speaking and keep you speaking by preparing stimulating activities and actively listening. A regular speaking session of 45 – 60 minutes depending on your needs. Pronunciation and intonation is often neglected, affecting confidence at speaking. This is an area ideally suited to the intimate online environment where we can go at your pace and you can master the particular sounds you find most challenging.
I have experience with all nationalities, especially Chinese, Spanish, Italian, French and Arabic speakers.
SPECIFIC NEEDS
Specific Needs
These can be anything. For example I have helped people prepare CV’s for the anglophone jobs market, presentations in English for academic as well as business purposes