Information About Catherine - Kettering teacher -
(7 reviews)

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This is how 2 referees rated Catherine:

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Languages Taught

French	Price Guide
Beginner	£30.00
Intermediate	£35.00
Advanced	£40.00
Expert	£50.00

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Personal Description:

I am a qualified, French native teacher who has lived in the UK since 1993. I would describe myself as friendly, adaptable, patient and well organised.
I greatly enjoy teaching French because it is my native language and I find it very beautiful and rich. It is so very rewarding to see someone gradually gain more confidence in being able to express themselves freely in a foreign language. I believe that being able to speak a different language opens the door to a very rich and enticing new cultural experience. I always work with my pupils at finding penfriends or holiday opportunities and by doing so, actually put their new skills and knowledge into practice. I love to see someone's mind expand as they learn not just a language but also a culture.

Teaching Experience:

When I first arrived in the UK, I worked as a French assistant, then qualified to become a teacher with a PGCE in Modern Foreign Languages in 1995. I taught French and German for a few years before my children were born.
In June 1999, I became an examiner, moderator and then team leader for AQA (something which I still do to this day).
I have taught people from all ages and levels, from young children to retirees. I have also taught for businesses clients. As an examiner, I am very well placed to know what is currently expected from the exam boards in order to achieve particular grades and I have the skills to teach students towards this grade.

Teaching Approach:

I have a friendly and relaxed approach to students, who often find languages intimidating, especially the speaking element. I am, however, equally professional and organized in my work and like to see the students I teach make good, rapid and confident progress.
As a native and qualified speaker, I am able to teach the right pronunciation and the correct grammar as well as really stretch students at higher levels.
Although I do teach in a communicative way, I also do believe in the grammatical approach, which enables the student to truly understand the workings of the language and then gives him/her the freedom to express what they really want to say, and not just repeat the phrases from a book.
I am very happy and now very experienced in teaching online, via Zoom or Facetime / What's app / Skype

Tutor Resources: (free to download)

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Native Language: French
Additional Languages: English (British), German, Italian
Availability: Weekends / Weekdays (all times)
References Available: Yes (✔ On File)

Qualifications:

Portsmouth University (1995) - PGCE in Modern Languages (PGCE) (✔ On File)
Department for Education (1995) - Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) (✔ On File)
Universite de Nancy 2 (1993) - Licence d'Anglais mention FLE (Bachelors) (✔ On File)
Lycee des Recollets, Longwy (1989) - Baccalaureat A2 (School) (✔ On File)

Catherine's Feedback

Total Amount Of Feedback:	7
Total Positive Feedback:	7 Av. 4.86/5.00

From Richard (5/5): I have now been a student with Catherine for approximately 18 months. I wanted to refresh my knowledge of the language after several years of not doing any study. I have found her to be very professional, friendly and able to assess my needs as a student, helping me to progress well. She is both patient and encouraging and I would unhesitatingly and highly recommend her.

Reply from: Catherine: Thank you so much Richard for your kind review. It's a pleasure to teach you and to try and allow you to be kinder to yourself too: these grammar rules have so many exceptions to them! You've pointed to aspects of French which I'd never questioned or noticed before! I'm happy to count you as one of my students and will always be there when you need my support.

From Fiona (5/5): Catherine's excellent teaching skills, plus her expert knowledge of the British exam system, are invaluable to us. For the first time, under her friendly guidance, my son finally is gaining the confidence and skills he needs to succeed in his A-levels. We could not be more delighted that Catherine is with us on this journey - I know we simply couldn't do it without her.

Reply from: Catherine: Thank you so much for your very kind review Fiona. I strive to always do my best to help my pupils so they make good progress and achieve good results whilst not being too stressed about everything and even maybe enjoy it!
Learning a language should be about discovering a new way of thinking and opening your mind to another culture, not just learning words and phrases. I love teaching pupils like James because he is so open to all these new connections… it's a pleasure to just be there to help him make them! All the best, Catherine x

From Caroline (5/5): I highly recommend Catherine as she is a wonderful native teacher with so much experience and knowledge. My daughter looks forward to her lessons as she always learns so much. Even though she has now completed her A-levels and is currently studying French at Cambridge, she continues lessons with Catherine. She feels Catherine goes over and above her duty and is well prepared for lessons - researching articles and interesting topics to share in the lessons. She also answers questions and explains concepts really well - giving time to pupil-led learning. Thank you so much Catherine, you are fabulous!

Reply from: Catherine: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback Caroline! It's a complete pleasure to have amazing students like Isa and being able to support them, boost their confidence and give them as much as I can to enhance their enjoyment of learning about not only the French language, but also French culture and arts. Merci!!

From mary (5/5): Catherine is an amazing tutor. Not only is she a native French speaker but her teaching style and personality really got the best out of my twin boys. She is a very positive person and fostered an enthusiasm in my boys that I did not know they had. The quality of teaching was very high, so high that one of my boys scored a perfect 60/60 on his GCSE French oral and the other one was very close to a perfect score. Their confidence and ability in speaking, listening, reading and writing French really was transformed after being taught by her. I would thoroughly recommend Catherine as she really knows her stuff and is an excellent teacher.

Reply from: Catherine: Thank you so much Mary for your feedback review. I've only just realized that I did not thank you at the time you made it! I miss your two boys, it was such a pleasure to teach them as they were so, polite, funny, inquisitive and quick thinking. I am so happy to see that they did really well in their exams! It was very rewarding to see their confidence grow as we did more lessons together. Tom in particular made huge progress with his speaking and it was so nice to see him more relaxed and happy speaking. I wish all of both all the best for their future, which I am sure will be very bright! All the best, Catherine x

From Smaro (5/5): Catherine is very professional and an inspiring teacher. She is teaching my 10 year old daughter for almost 4 months now and the progress is phenomenal. Most of the time Catherine speaks in French which, in my opinion, is very engaging for the student. As part of the lesson, Catherine incorporates information about French culture, French locations or historic events which I think is rather interesting and makes the learning of the language more appealing.

Reply from: Catherine: Merci Smaro! It's a pleasure to teach Maria every week as she is so keen to learn and so quick and curious about everything! Merci encore!

From Helena (5/5): Very enthusiastic and friendly teacher. My children say she "makes you think but keeps it interesting and fun too".

Reply from: Catherine: Many thanks for your very kind feedback Helena. It is a pleasure to teach your daughters. I think that, with languages, you have to keep things relaxed and fun, while teaching grammar points and accuracy. This is not easy but I do try my best!

From Halina (4/5): Catherine has alsways arrived on time and prepared for the lesson. I will be able to leave more indepth feedback after my daughters GCSE.

Tags: Kettering French teacher, Kettering Beginner French teacher, Kettering Intermediate French teacher, Kettering Advanced French teacher, Kettering Expert French teacher