Michèle Larkin

I am a native French speaker, born and educated in Paris where I graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Arts & Master's degree in Languages from the Sorbonne University.
I subsequently moved to England where, after obtaining a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, I worked as a full time French teacher for over 25 years, taking thousands of students through their GCSE and A'level exams . For 10+ years I was the sole teacher and examiner of all the A'Level students at my last school.

A few years ago I retired from classroom teaching to devote myself to one to one tuition, all the while keeping up with changes in the various syllabuses and exploring the opportunities offered by technological advances.
I have wide experience in tutoring at all levels, from KS3 to undergraduates, including adult students eager to develop their conversational skills.

The bulk of my teaching is online via Skype or WhatsApp, as this is more flexible for both teacher and tutee. However when convenient I can also accommodate people at home if they are more comfortable with an in person experience.

Having assessed a student's needs and established their personal aims, I tailor lessons and homework according to this, using textbooks, past papers, worksheets, online resources and most of all my own extensive material in order to optimise learning.

I consider myself a very dedicated teacher, eager to see my students progress and enjoy learning about French culture at the same time as they improve their command of the language.
The overwhelming majority of my tutees progress faster, get motivated and achieve their full potential at the level they wish to achieve.

As an example I can cite the case of a Year 10 student who obtained a grade 9 in his GCSE French exam last August ( he wanted to sit the exam early and could not have lessons at school) with the sole benefit of my tuition from January to May/June 2024.
This year again another tutee who had been predicted a grade 7 in her French GCSE exam obtained a grade 9 after only 2 months of tuition
This year again another student living in Australia and whom I had been tutoring from the equivalent of Year 10, obtained a scholarship at Cambridge University.
And so on