Anne

I am a mother of 3 grown up children and have always been very involved in community ventures involving children. I love to travel and to read and am particularly interested in art and history. I have a thorough knowledge of the geography, history and culture of the countries in which French and German are spoken and have close friends there. My other interests are cinema, especially foreign language films, and walking.

Tutoring Experience

I have been a qualified teacher of Modern Languages at secondary level for 30 years and until September 2013 was Head of Modern Languages in a Derbyshire secondary school. Throughout my career I taught both French & German to A level. A few years ago I completed a Masters degree in translation studies and am now also working as a freelance translator. I have been giving private tuition at GCSE and A level throughout the last 6 years and also did so for several years when my own children were young. I now also mark at GCSE level.

Tutoring Approach

'I would not have been anywhere with French without the help that Anne gave me over the summer; so I'mmehow she just worked out what I needed and how I needed it and then it all came together-I feel lucky to have had her as my tutor': testimony from a recent student, who came to me with no French and was to enter Y9 at a top public school six weeks later. His experience was typical of my approach which is as follows:
In the first session with a tutee, I would assess their needs through discussion and viewing of completed work and produce a plan for the first few sessions afterwards.Thereafter, planning would be reactive and paced towards any deadlines or exams.
My aim is to empower the tutee, to give strategies for improvement and to make them alert and responsive throughout the tuition hour.
At A level, I would hope to pass on my research skills and an enthusiasm for the culture behind the language, as well as strategies to deal with grammar issues and particular exam based skills.
This approach has led my A level students to go on to degree level, GCSE students to A level and my one & only novice to the top set in a prestigious school.