Helen

I am a married woman with two grown-up children in their twenties. I am an enthusiastic linguist,who loves to pass on her love of languages. I have lived and travelled in Europe, as well as exploring the Americas and parts of Africa. Apart from travel and languages, I also love to read and write, as well as walk and swim. I consider myself to be patient, honest and sociable, hopefully a good communicator.

Tutoring Experience

I taught for over thirty years in various different secondary schools in the South of England, During that time, I held posts of responsibility ranging from Head of French to Head of Languages, from Primary Liaison Link to Associate University tutor.
During my time in the secondary sector, I also worked in primary schools on transition projects.
Until August, I then taught Modern Languages solely in a primary school for two years.
I have privately tutored children of primary and post- GCSE ages for the past two years and would now like to develop this further.

Tutoring Approach

First and foremost, I like to develop the enthusiasm for the foreign language by speaking it and gradually building up the confidence of the student to speak it too. I like to show the links between the languages i.e between the native and the foreign language. Depending on the level of the student, I will use games, puzzles and similar to build confidence and support learning. A firm foundation of grammar is often needed ,especially for secondary and adult learners but again this varies according to their needs. Confidence and the feeling that progress has been made each time is paramount.