Having studied Spanish as part of my linguistics degree, I went on to travel to Spain many times. I really enjoyed being able to converse with people in shops,
order food in restaurants and talk to local people in different parts of Spain. My lessons are centred very much around the learner and building blocks to develop assurance and ability to converse in the target language without
feeling hampered by the fear of making a mistake. I like to focus as much as possible on developing confidence to speak and doing rôle play situations. I like my clients to enjoy learning and to have fun as well as putting in the hard work needed to consolidate on their language skills. I tend to start my classes with conversation either on a topic or what has been happening with them recently, depending on how confident a speaker, the learner is. This is a good way for people to introduce themselves and what they are currently doing while learning new language and reinforcing that vocabulary. I then work on a a piece of language with my client(s), reading it through, picking out key vocabulary and then translating it. There will be some follow-up comprehension questions to check that the article has been understood......I sometimes use games, such as bingo, flash cards or word games to help with learning numbers, grammar points and vocabulary.
I often work through a book in the target language to provide interest and continuity. This is good practice for pronunciation, develops the ability to translate and comprehend text in the language being studied. It is also interesting and stimulating.