Ollie Barker

A recent Modern Languages graduate from Durham University (having studied French and Spanish), I have been exposed to various learning techniques, from drilling written phrases to finding creative scenarios that imitate the language use in real-life, and everything in between. I really enjoy learning and using languages and I hope that I can pass this enthusiasm on to children I tutor, as I believe it is so important to learning. Having worked as an independent tutor, a Gap student, and a sports coach, I have experience working with children and my sessions would be shaped by this. I am enthusiastic, patient and always happy to help, and I celebrate any progress made in lessons.

Before the session, I start by asking the area(s) that the pupil would like help with. Given the topic and the level, I then write exercises based off these areas, and after meeting the pupil for the first time, I try to gauge what interests them, their style of learning, their strengths and weaknesses, and consequently how to shape any progression from the initial exercises. Once the pupil gains a good grasp of the material, I look to expand on the initial exercises through interactive exercises based off the interests of the pupil, consolidating the material just covered in a way that engages the speaking and listening aspects of learning a language. I look to make the latter exercises, in particular, enjoyable so that the pupil recognises the interactive nature of languages, which I believe is often overlooked in schools or underestimated in the learning process, and has the opportunity to build off the enjoyment of interacting through the language.