I discovered my passion for teaching Italian a few years ago, when I joined an existing conversation group in Norwich for English people. Sadly the Italian lady who was leading it passed away, so the group asked me to help them. I was very honoured to keep it alive, so I continued to regularly meet these English people in a coffee shop weekly.
It's very relaxed and we have fun together, make jokes as well. I feel this is the best way to learn a language.
And it's an exchange of knowledge too, I have been improving my English thanks to them and it's been a truly enriching experience on a personal level too.
It's important to build a rapport of trust first and get to know which insecurities there might be.
I don't aim for perfection, I would rather have the person build their confidence and not be afraid of making mistakes.
I have been doing 1:1 lessons to one lady from this group for a few years. I print off grammar exercises for her, depending on where her weaknesses are. We also listen to songs and sometimes read online articles about culture and politics. She likes various subjects and topics, so I prepare different kind of material for her.
I work part-time in the evening for the NHS and I would love if I managed to eventually become a tutor as my main profession in the future, because it's about connecting with people.