Information About Susi - Sandringham teacher

Personal Description:

Originally from Germany, I have now lived and worked in the UK for over thirty years. My two (adult) children are bilingual and took German GCSEs in year 8 (revision at home), one of them did German A Level, the other is continuing with German at university. I have a degree in translation studies (from a German university) as well as an Open University degree (an Open degree which combined Social Care courses as well as Latin, nutrition and personal finance courses). I have always loved learning new things, which means that I will happily research any new topics in German to suit a student's interests - this will make our lessons more interesting and relevant.
In one of my previous jobs in a public library, my tasks included helping people get online, running story times and leading a children's book club. I am used to engaging with children, and enjoy finding out about what makes other people tick. This personal connection provides a helpful foundation for successful language lessons.

Teaching Experience:

Apart from communicating with my own children in the past and revising with them for their school exams, I also have several years' freelance experience of helping students revise for their German and Russian GCSE exams at several local secondary school, with very good results. I have also spent time with a local teacher who was preparing to take a group of music school students on a trip to Germany. My current adult learner lessons are focussing on aspects of grammar and achieving speaking fluency in a variety of topics.

Teaching Approach:

Each student is an individual, and in our first meeting, it is important for me to find out the learner's knowledge of German, their requirements (pass GCSE exams, for instance) and their personal motivation. From this starting point, I will then devise individually tailored lessons which use a variety of materials.
Teaching online (Zoom) may mean conducting lessons with a shared screen, or sending documents by email beforehand. I will check any completed home learning and will run through any comments or corrections in the following lesson.
I am flexible with changing requirements, where a student may need some last-minute practice for a mock exam for instance. The main point of language lessons is to speak as much German as possible and learn something in the process!