Laure

I am a native speaker of French and have been a permanent resident in the UK over the last 30 years. My lifelong interest in all matters educational, especially in modern foreign languages and psychology, has prompted me to take up part-time tutoring in a private capacity after I left full-time education for health reasons a few years ago. I have now been working as a private tutor of French for 8 years whilst being in parallel employment in the NHS as a Senior PA in Pathology. A tandem of activities, which, over the years, has afforded me much professional satisfaction and success on both fronts.

Tutoring Experience

My initial professional experience as a qualified Adult Education Tutor (7307 Tutor Certificate) of French confirmed my personal calling for imparting linguistic skills and interacting with people in all age groups. Later on, I decided to resume some formal training at the University of Sussex in Brighton where, in 1996, I obtained my Post Graduate Certificate in Education for teaching at secondary level. Since then, my skills have expanded and now include teaching French to primary school children on a one-to-one basis, from the age of 6 onwards. Through observation and interacting with young children, I feel I have acquired greater insight into the mechanisms of effective learning i.e. what really works for a learner whilst nurturing enjoyment and furthering their interest in a wide range of topics including foreign languages. Please note, up-to-date references can be provided on request either from the parents of my young students or from my adult clients.

Tutoring Approach

My belief in effective teaching and learning lies in the empowerment of the learner. This is achieved through the provision of all the necessary grammatical and lexical ‘ammunitions’ to enable communication and interaction, not just between a tutor and their tutee, but also between a tutee and the world around them, which is more to the point of learning a foreign language. Whilst based on the current UK National Curriculum where primary and secondary learners are concerned, a typical lesson would include drills, practical applications of new grammatical and lexical concepts, and a whole array of fun activities e.g. play acting, adapted board games, singing, dancing, miming, working things out in the place of a ‘detective’. This multi-faceted approach to teaching French necessarily encompasses all four attainments targets i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing, with much fun throughout the whole process.