Information About Ailbhe - Port Laoise tutor -

(14 reviews)

Personal Description:

I am a Speech and Language Therapist and also completed the Dioplóma sa Ghaeilge at the highest level (C1) with NUI Galway in 2016/2017. I am a native Irish speaker from the west of Ireland and have 10+ years experience working as an instructor in an Irish summer college. During secondary school I competed in various Irish-language based events, including Gael Linn debating (entirely through Irish) at regional level for 4 years. Having obtained an A1 (H1) in my own Leaving Cert Irish and an A at Junior Cert, both at Higher Level, I have first-hand experience of what is required to achieve such grades in State Examinations. In addition, I am a native and regular speaker of Irish and strive not only to encourage academic success, but to develop a confidence in a student's ability to both speak and write the language. I am hard-working and enthusiastic and at the heart of all my teaching is the desire to enable any student to achieve the goals they set out for themselves, whether they be a Leaving Cert student who wants a H1 grade or an adult learner looking to improve their beginner or intermediate level Irish. I am available for grinds online at present.

Tutoring Experience:

As an instructor in a summer Irish college for 7 years I have extensive experience working with teenagers aged 11-18 in developing their oral Irish. I have also given grinds locally to Leaving and Junior Cert students for the past 6 years.
In my role as a Speech and Language Therapist I work with clients of all ages to reach their full potential.
I have worked with many adult learners in preparation for job interviews, passing university Irish exams, preparing for interviews for Hibernia with 100% success rate, for TEG exams and so on. In addition to this, I have been teaching piano to children aged 4+ for 5 years, so I have teaching experience across a wide variety of age groups.

Approach to Grinds:

I work to set out and achieve specific goals that are individual to each student - I am very much of the belief that grinds tuition should be student-led, and I am happy to focus on any or all aspects of the language depending on where the students' strengths and weaknesses lie. I have comprehensive notes on the courses for the State Exams, and I would also hope to work alongside the student in developing their own individual notes. Personally, I would aim to encourage competency and confidence in the use of the language as opposed to ro**Contact Detail Removed**arning overall, but again this is entirely up to the student themselves in terms of the approach they would like to take in order to achieve their goals. I am willing to be flexible with times and arrangements as I understand that students have many other commitments and I have no problem with either fixed regular sessions or occasional lessons depending on how the student themselves felt they were progressing.
For Leaving & Junior Cert students, grinds sessions will cover any/all of the following areas: oral fluency, aural work (using past exam papers & additional resources such as RnaG/TG4), essay writing including debate/speech writing, reading comprehension, studied texts and intensive work on grammar, sentence structure and vocab. Full notes and resources will be provided.
In the case of online grinds, I am happy to use Zoom/Skype/whatever platform students are most familiar with,
and feedback and explanation of topics covered in the session is then provided in a concise word document for the student's own learning.
I am always open to hearing suggestions from students on how they feel they learn best, and am willing to be flexible in my teaching methods to accommodate this.