Celine

I am a qualified native French teacher and I completed my PGCE in the UK in 2003 . I have been teaching in primary schools and secondary schools as well as privately to GCSE students and adults . I enjoy working with private clients as they are usually full of enthusiasm and very dedicated . I love nothing best than to see someone progressing from the first basic words to full conversations about everything ! I am a very professional tutor and always prepare my lessons so that they match the students' abilities , level and interests .

Tutoring Experience

I have been teaching French for 20 years in England .
I started in a secondary school in London and then moved to Hertfordshire to work in primary schools . After 3 years teaching French in primary schools around Hertford , I decided to expand my experience of teaching abroad by taking a post of French teacher in Saint-Petersburg , Russia . I came back a year later and became a full-time tutor for adults in their workplace , in Stevenage . I mostly did one-to-one tuition and really enjoyed being able to fully concentrate on my students one at a time . I also work privately now with GCSE students and adults . My main job at the moment is secondary school French teacher and French tutor . I got some excellent feedback from all the places I have worked in and enjoyed each of these experiences which I believe made me a very rounded professional used to adapt to all contexts .

Tutoring Approach

With adults , I usually start my lessons by answering any questions that a tutee may have , and by looking at the homework I set the previous lesson . Then , we have a general conversation about how their week went , or any other subject suitable at the time of the lesson . It's good as a warm-up and get everybody in the swing of things ! The main part of the lesson is spent working on a new grammar point and some new vocabulary . I love using role-play as it's a fantastic way to practice the language and is also a more authentic approach as it puts the learner in a "real life" situation , which will come handy once they are on their own in France ! I make sure there is a progression from one week to another and I use my own books to achieve this as I have different ones for different levels . The end of the lesson is about going through the new language / grammar , setting the homework and asking the student what are they going to do at the week-end or the week after . It's a good way to practice the future tense as well ! Everything should have a aim and be useful in a lesson and this is what I strive to achieve every time .

With GCSE and A-Level students , I will look more specifically at what is requested from them in order to achieve a high grade in their exams and take it from there . Every school has a slightly different way of doing things but as a whole the curriculum is very similar . The most important thing for students taking their exams is to reassure and to give them confidence as they usually know much more than what they think , and they just need to "unlock" this knowledge and understand how to put it to best use .

With younger teenagers / children , it can be either helping with homework and revisions or having a very fun approach with games and songs , depending on the objective of each particular student .