Jacques

I am a CELTA qualified English Language teacher, Masters graduate, and native English speaker with 2 years' teaching experience varying from one-on-one lessons to large groups, covering a range of ages from young teens to adults.

I provide 1-on-1 online lessons in conversational English to improve your confidence, language proficiency, and fluency. I currently teach levels from Intermediate and above, and can cover specific fields such as Business English.

I bring all my past professional experience as a teacher, team manager, public speaker, events coordinator, and published writer to my tutoring to provide a service that is open and collaborative as well as maintaining strict accountability and etiquette.

Tutoring Experience

I acquired my CELTA certificate in November 2018 and have since taught independently and at the British Study Centre in Edinburgh, teaching English to international learners of an intermediate, upper-intermediate, and advanced level. This included casual learners, school groups, and exam preparation classes. My language teaching experience consistently pushes me to develop skills in lesson planning, people skills, motivational skills, and consideration for my students' progress and well-being.

Related experience includes 3 years' employment as a Duty Manager where I managed a large team of front of house staff, provided training, set goals, managed their time, and both supported and advised them during complex and high pressure situations. Also relevant is my experience in hosting and coordinating literary events including a poetry collective in Swansea during my undergraduate study, events for the University of Edinburgh LLC department, and arts events both in and around Edinburgh.

Credentials include:
Cambridge CELTA - BSC Edinburgh
MSc in Creative Writing - The University of Edinburgh
First Class BA (Hons) in English Literature - The University of Swansea

Tutoring Approach

My tutoring style is based strongly on taking a communicative and collaborative approach with my students, not only to provide an effective service but also to build confidence in your skills and proficiency.

My lessons will focus on improving your conversational English within situations and contexts that are relevant to you. After a free consultation session on your interests and aims with language learning, I will provide lessons that focus on your needs and provide informed and aimed conversation practice based around the learning objectives for that day.

A typical lesson will involve lots of conversation on specific topics, such as articles, current events, your interests, or concepts. These conversations will be aimed at allowing you to practice the objectives we have decided on together, such as specific grammar points, comprehension, pronunciation, or fluidity. Between conversations we will do short language exercises to teach you new techniques and refresh old ones.

In addition, I will provide feedback within the lesson on your progress and performance, along with tasks that will improve your listening, reading, and speaking skills. Short writing exercises can also be covered, either during lessons or as homework.