Aleksandra

I am about to conclude a PhD in English at the University of Cambridge, where I have for the past almost four years also provided instruction and dissertation supervision to undergraduate students, as well as assessed applicant entrance exams. I now continue to research and teach across Cambridge and privately.

I specialised in English at the University of Cambridge, where I undertook both a PhD and an MPhil ('with Distinction') while also providing supervision and assessment to BA Hons students and applicants. Prior, I obtained a broader background across comparative, especially Germanic and Slavonic, literatures, linguistics and languages at Utrecht University, completing a BA Hons ('summa cum laude', equivalent to 'Double Class I with Distinction'), and over the course of my earlier school education, culminating with a Matura concluded in Ljubljana, Slovenia (with results equivalent to 6A*s at A-Level and 14A*s at GCSE/IGCSE level), after having lived across a number of European regions.

As such, I am able to offer tuition across individual and comparative Literatures, Linguistics, Languages (especially English and Russian, but also others if needed, as detailed on my linked FirstTutors: Languages profile), Philosophy (especially Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Literature, Philosophy of Art, and Moral and Ethical Philosophy), and History (especially History of Ideas, History of Language, History of Literature, and History of Art). I usually offer tuition from middle or secondary school level (including GCSE/IGCSE and A-Level) up to one or two levels 'beneath' those of my own qualifications (so, in the case of English, which I concentrated on in my PhD dissertation, I offer up to MA-level tuition; in the case of Russian, which I attended to alongside English in my MPhil dissertation, up to BA-level tuition; in the case of Philosophy and History, aspects of which I was examined in as part of my final-year BA Hons examinations, up to a more foundational, first- or second-year BA Hons level; and so on), but I am also aware that there can be large disparities between different national systems, degrees, courses and so forth, so am always open to discussing and adapting to these (I have, for example, been open to tutoring students of any level working towards general fluency in languages I have been raised and/or natively educated in, especially minority languages such as Slovenian where language-learning resources and opportunities can be especially difficult to find!)

At the same time, I am also able to offer aid with Study Skills, Degree Applications, Scholarship Applications, and eventual Entrance Examinations and Entrance Interviews. I was fortunate to have had the entirety of my studies (including PhD, MPhil, BA Hons, and numerous exchanges and internships) funded through a number of competitive academic scholarships (including full and/or parallel partial awards from the Cambridge Trust, Le Bas Fund, Utrecht Fund, Zois Fund, Soroptimist International, and other initiatives), which was particularly transformative as I would not have been able to fund them myself (nor would I have been able to rely on a student loan scheme)! As such, I am not only well aware of the transformative potentials of an excellent education, but also more than familiar with what it takes to excel at different educational levels, often under less than ideal circumstances (including PhD, MPhil, BA Hons, secondary and middle school), and also across educational systems (especially the British, German and Dutch, but also others which I applied to, examined into, and eventually had to decide between!) — and would be glad to help others achieve the admissions and scholarship results I did. In fact, I already have plenty of experience doing so, having for the past couple of years regularly assisted students through a number of access schemes (including several Oxbridge access and support schemes, The Sutton Trust, The Friends of Youth, and other initiatives).

Tutoring Experience

I have taught extensively through a combination of educational institutions (especially the University of Cambridge), initiatives (including several Oxbridge schemes), agencies and online platforms like this one. Usually, this has been through one-on-one or small-scale sessions aimed at (I) covering particular content, (II) preparing for written or oral examinations of that content, and/or (III) developing and entrenching the transferrable academic skills needed to engage with the field more independently, rigorously, and at length.

As a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, I have for the past almost four years also provided one-on-one supervision and small-scale seminar-style instruction to undergraduate students reading for degrees in the literatures and languages at the Faculty of English and the Faculty of Modern and Mediaeval Languages, with a number having gone on to achieve marks of 'Class I' (70/75+) or 'Class I with Distinction' (75/80+). My expertise is in dissertations and papers (or modules, as they are often called outside of Cambridge) across literary and linguistic history, theory and analysis (at Cambridge including 'Practical Criticism and Critical Practice I' and 'II' and 'The History and Theory of Criticism') and across literary and linguistic forms, themes and developments of the period of roughly 1830–Present (including 'English Literature and Its Contexts, 1830–1945' and '1914–Present', 'Special Periods' '1847–1872', '1936–1856' and '1960–Present', and dissertations attending, individually or comparatively, to particular English and/or Slavonic authors and titles across the 'Modern and Contemporary' periods usually understood as roughly '1830–Present'). I am always happy to adapt these sorts of intensive, one-on-one or small-scale sessions to my students outside of Cambridge, too, and can teach topics within my specialist period up to MA level, as well as topics outside of it up to BA Hons level (including A-Levels, GCSE/IGCSEs, and comparable qualifications).

At the same time, much of my teaching experience over the past couple of years, whether institutionally affiliated or privately arranged, has involved aiding students with essential academic skills such as reading comprehension, synthesis, writing, editing, presentation, and approaching extended pieces of coursework and independent research (including EPQs, EEs, IAs, BA/BSc theses, MA/MLitt/MPhil/MSc theses, and even a couple of PhD/DPhil dissertations — whether in the same discipline(s) as mine or not, with essential academic skills being, after all, highly transferrable!). I am always open to being contacted about more of this sort of work, and indeed find it particularly rewarding to be able to aid students in developing the enthusiasm, experience, skills, and appropriate tools and techniques to approach the work that will ultimately end up being most personally enriching to them.

As a PhD candidate at Cambridge, I have for the past almost two years also contributed to candidate and applicant assessments at the Faculty of English and the Faculty of Modern and Mediaeval Languages, including as part of Cambridge's own entrance examinations (such as the 'CELAT' or 'Cambridge English Language Aptitude Test and the 'CMLAT' or 'Cambridge Modern Language Aptitude Test). As such, I have been able to obtain a particularly good grasp of the standards expected of a successful (or even an exceptional) Oxbridge applicant and eventual student, including those whom I end up teaching over the course of their next three or four years. I am always happy to aid students outside of Cambridge, too, in developing their skills to this level and learning how to most effectively demonstrate them in the context of written and oral examinations.

Outside of my research, teaching and assessment, I regularly also edit, review, translate, interpret, and participate in the production processes for a number of international presses, publications and conferences. Recently, I have provided my services to The Cambridge Journal of Law, Politics, and Art, Victoriographies, Uliks/Уликс, Nozh/Нож, Eikon, Arcadia, The Biennale Foundation, The London Book Fair, The Frankfurt Book Fair, Days of Verse and Wine, and others. I can therefore also be contacted to provide aid, or advice, which draws on these areas of expertise.

Tutoring Approach

I am keenly aware of students' different personal and educational backgrounds and learning profiles, and ultimately aim to structure my lessons around each individual (having particular experience working with students with dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, CFS/ME and varied language-processing and -production difficulties, as well as with students from low-income, state-educated, first-generation, asylum-seeker, care-experienced, estranged and otherwise socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds). Therefore, if a student is able to provide previous and/or current syllabi, express particular interests, and/or articulate particular difficulties (whether due to a lack of experience, confidence, or a learning profile that has traditionally been marginalised by schools and universities), this will be especially useful for me to know. Often, students I aid simply do not (yet) have access to the necessary tools, techniques and experiences to navigate an environment that is imperfectly suited to them, so part of my approach will always be aimed at determining areas of relative ease and strain for the student and implementing the necessary strategies to ensure they are able to pursue (and even excel at) their studies.

From there, I find that most aims and potential difficulties will be addressible through two parallel emphases: (I) enthusiasm and (II) structure. The development of enthusiasm tends to focus on encouraging the student to perceive connections between the studied discipline and their interests, and using these as the foundation to build curiosity, interest and confidence (since all academic disciplines have developed over a protracted period of time by a profusion of different people, there is an incredible wealth of approaches to draw on to make them fun for anyone!). The entrenchment of structure, on the other hand, tends to involve the development of sustained reading, writing, presentation and other practices that also take into account the student's approach to understanding, retaining, synthesising and applying information (while one student might learn most through a combination of visual and auditory approaches, another might also benefit from a kinaesthetic one; where one student might prefer to have a couple of larger checkpoints to guide them along, another will benefit from breaking up an assignment into multiple smaller, more easily digestible tasks; no two students will ever be exactly alike, so they oughtn't be treated as such!).

In general, a student's academic skills will be cultivated, along these two streams, through ample practice, both in person (for example, by being asked to articulate an idea in their own words, constructively questioned on aspects of the idea, and asked to further develop and integrate it into other ideas they have recently learnt about — allowing them to consolidate their knowledge and ensuring that it is active, and therefore easily remembered and applied, rather than passive, and easily forgotten!) and in the form of take-home assignments (for example, short essays the student may be asked to complete between individual lessons, in response to which I will then be able to provide detailed annotations and their in-person discussion — allowing the student to learn through regularly given and calibrated, thorough, and easily understandable feedback!).

For the most part, appointments will progress through the particular towards a wider note on the discipline or assignment. This will, apart from drawing observations and explanations together, also provide an opportunity for the student to express whether there are any aspects of the topic that they've found especially interesting or would like to pursue in more detail (especially in the case of sessions aimed towards helping them produce an extended piece of coursework), any they've found especially difficult that we will need to spend more time consolidating (especially in the case of sessions aimed towards entrenching knowledge in advance of an examination), or any aspects of the lesson that may or may not have worked for them.

Following a lesson, I will usually also provide the student with a brief, typed-up summary of what we have covered, and how it might be thought of in light of what we are about to cover — this will generally reach them before the next lesson.

Tutoring Arrangements

I am generally available for appointments both in person and online — at locations within Cambridge and surroundings (depending on distance, and given compensation for travel time and expenses), as well as through Skype, Teams, Zoom and any open-source platforms preferred by the student. I am flexible and used to working unexpected hours as well as on assignments with sudden and tight deadlines, so am also open to inquiries from those who require a more flexible approach — including work with imminent deadlines, late-night availabilities, and other unconventional circumstances (having previously often been able to accommodate a number of urgent requests for intensive, late-evening appointments and so on). After we have established an appointment or schedule thereof and exchanged contact information, I usually accept bookings through confirmation of payment, however, as I know scheduling can be a complicated and occasionally unpredictable affair, I am able to accommodate all cancellations made no later than 48 hours in advance of a lesson with a 100% refund, as well as all cancellations made no later than 24 hours in advance of a lesson with a 50% refund of tuition fees (although, in cases where travel fees are also applicable and travel has already been arranged, travel fees will usually unfortunately not be refundable).