Talia Jenkins

Hola I'm Talia. I'm orginally from rural south Wales but have since relocated to Shropshire. My passion for languages began in Year 9 when my Spanish teacher opened my eyes to the wider world and gave me the opportunity to learn about other cultures. I was truly fascinated which is what led me to pursue languages at university and beyond. As well as my love for languages, I am an avid traveller and explorer currently attempting to tick off as many European cities as possible. I enjoy fitness such as swimming and attending exercise classes. I also like reading foreign fictional thriller novels, cooking new recipes and I am currently teaching myself German in my spare time.

After spending a year as an English language assistant in Spain during my year abroad and working as a Spanish and Welsh language assistant in a private school in the UK, I knew that teaching was a career I wanted to pursue. Since completing my PGCE, I have worked at secondary schools in Wales, Shropshire and south west London teaching students at KS3, KS4 and KS5. I have taught using various exam boards such as AQA, WJEC and Eduqas therefore I understand the exam techniques that specific exam boards require from GCSE and A-level students to succeed. At my previous school, I was lead of Year 10 meaning that I was responsible for planning all lessons as well as creating stimulating schemes of work and assessments. I tutored a small group of students face to face after school to improve their grades in preparation for their mock exams. During the pandemic, I also tutored students 1-1 via Teams (in addition to their online lessons) who were aiming to take French at A-level therefore I am confident at delivering sessions both online and face to face.

My teaching methodology is determined by various factors such as the age and level of the learner but, most importantly, by their goal. For primary age, I teach phonics and vocabulary via repetition through songs and games to ensure that the learner is motivated and that the content learned is retained. Regarding GCSE and A-level students, as previously mentioned, it is vital that students develop their exam technique for the each exam (speaking, listening, reading & writing) and understand how to approach and answer a question successfully. Moreover, during the last four years, I have acquired several strategies to support students when it comes to learning new vocabulary and phrases. For adults aiming to achieve a basic understanding of the language, I ensure that the content is relevant and useful for communication abroad such as asking for directions, ordering food and drink and general travel vocabulary. I dedicate a lot of time when planning my lessons to ensure that the lesson itself is engaging and that the learner is able to progress week to week and therefore able to reach their goal(s).