Violet

Tutoring Experience

From 2020-21 I worked as a bilingual teacher in Spain. This involved teaching students aged 12-18 a variety of subjects across both English and Spanish. This therefore covered teaching both academic content and English as a foreign language. It involved adapting my teaching to various sets of exams and exam boards and working with students individually to hone in on areas where they were struggling and overcome specific difficulties.

During this time, I also worked as a private tutor preparing students for taking the Cambridge Language Assessment in English. This meant understanding the specific requirements of the exam format and creating exercises and mock exams that would help build up the students’ knowledge and confidence when taking the exam. This work paid off when my two students both received their C1 qualification in the summer of 2021.

During my time at University, I worked as a Spanish and English A level tutor for several students. This involved helping them get to grips with the different elements needed to perform well in each exam and building their confidence in their own abilities. Often breaking down the content into manageable sections and approaching each text individually provided the best way for them to fully understand and be able to cope with the material. I also reviewed personal statements and guided them through the process of the ELAT and MLAT, making sure to focus on each student showcasing not just their knowledge but their thought process, as this is key to success in the Oxbridge admissions tests.

Tutoring Approach

English Literature (A Level and GCSE): With these exams it is crucial to break them down into the content and themes of the works studied, and the manner and confidence with which the student is able to express ideas and develop arguments. Regardless of exam board, developing these core skills through a mixture of discussion and practice essays is essential to improving grades. Dedicated time to each paper allows links and patterns to be made between different texts that hone and develop the student’s ability to construct convincing essays.

English Literature (Oxbridge Admissions): The ELAT tests the student’s approach to the question as much as their ability to compare and contrast literary texts. This requires a focus both on the mechanical skills of writing and the creativity needed to approach two different writing styles and draw comparisons between them.

Practice tests and planning sessions where the student is able to practice these skills and discuss their individual approach work best to prepare them for such an exam. I am also able to create mock interview situations which allow the student to develop their critical thinking and close reading in time sensitive situations; a skill that is crucial for both the admissions tests and interviews.

Spanish (A Level and GCSE): Language exams involve various components including reading, writing, speaking and translating another language. It is crucial to identify which of these presents more of a challenge to each student and design exercises to help work through any difficulties they are having. As someone who has taught across multiple languages I believe in building confidence as well as technical skill as these two elements combined provide the best chance at doing well in these sorts of exams. I also engage closely with the different exam boards to pick up on individual elements that often repeat across exams.

Spanish (Oxbridge Admissions): The MLAT involves both translation and grammatical exercises. I set various mock papers to establish the areas in which the student struggles, which then allows us to explore the rules of the language surrounding that particular area and understand the theory behind it. With the translation component of the paper I encourage both accuracy and creativity in completing it, thus allowing the student to problem solve and think on their feet even when faced with a tricky phrase or difficult construction.

English as a foreign language: My approach to teaching English as a foreign language involves equipping the student with the necessary tools to construct the language whilst also applying use of the language to real-life examples and interesting cultural situations.

This helps with memorisation and context for the grammatical functions of the language and builds confidence particularly with spoken English. Having worked with the Cambridge Language Assessment criteria before, I create practice exercises and exams that test the specific areas targeted by the exam board.