Luke

Hello, my name is Luke and I am from the UK. I grew up in Essex, studied in Scotland and have lived in Austria and Russia and worked in France. I currently live in London.

Although I spend a lot of my time reading and listening to anything in French, German or Russian, I also really enjoy climbing, yoga, cycling and chess. I also have a dog, Micky, who is absolutely wonderful.

Tutoring Experience

I have 7 years teaching experience, having worked as a KS3 coordinator for languages, head of German and head of year. I am also currently an examiner for AQA, marking the film and literature paper at A-level.

I have tutored privately for Russia-based companies; for both individual and groups on a wide range of courses, from conversational classes to classes specialising in legal and corporate language.

I worked as a learning support assistant before training to teach. For this, I received training on how to best support pupils with ADHD, ASD, and visual and hearing impairments. I worked with pupils individually in this role.

In 2022 I was awarded the Peter Boaks Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching German by the Goethe-Institut and British-German Association. I am the London representative for the latter organisation, supporting and connecting German teachers across London.

I am completing a National Professional Qualification, specialising in leading teaching in secondary schools.

I am also currently studying to become a conference interpreter in French and German. I must therefore have exemplary command of my languages, excellent, natural pronunciation, and vast cultural knowledge. All of which, I would love to share with you!

Tutoring Approach

In my lessons, my focus is on increasing motivation to learn languages, which will be achieved in three ways.

We will focus on grammar so that you are able to express the ideas and opinions that are personal to you. There will be very little rote-learning or set phrases without ensuring that you thoroughly understand why and how these phrases are work and sound natural. This will ensure you are able to express yourself independently.

Secondly, we will focus on speaking. A lot. Fluency and communication are key, and I expect you to make mistakes – otherwise you wouldn’t need me! Unless I cannot understand you, I will not interrupt you, but instead address any repeated mistakes later in lessons. I firmly believe that if you what until you speak the language perfectly to say anything, you’ll never speak!

Finally, language learning continues all the time, especially outside of classes. Based on your strengths, weaknesses and interests I will point you in the right direction of the many, many resources I have gathered to keep the progress you make with me fresh in your mind.

With these three approaches combined, you will be able to express yourself, speak confidently, and engage with language independently. This is very motivating, and motivated students achieve very well.