Robyn Parkinson

I believe that the best way for students to build confidence in a target language is to allow them the space to talk about the things that interest them in the target language. A lack of confidence is, in my experience, the biggest barrier to language learning and something that I have observed many times particularly in teenage learners. Helping students to overcome this hurdle is absolutely paramount to the language learning process.

In my lessons I will try to create a comfortable environment where students can practice the target language and feel comfortable using it before focusing on specific issues or exam technique that they will use. My lessons will be funny, engaging and not too formal as I feel that an overly formal environment can be prohibitive to language practice. Giving learners the tools to express themselves in terms of things that they find important and are familiar with is the key to unlocking that confidence that so many learners lack. In English, for example, we are so confident talking about our friends, our family, our school or our jobs - it is this level of confidence that I believe is most important to unlock. After all, even in our native language we often lack confidence when talking about things we aren't familiar with. Building the base level of confidence is the most important thing to allow students to engage with topics they may lack confidence in.

I recently worked with an academy in Spain teaching English to young learners and found this to be particularly effective, especially with teenagers. I am also very comfortable teaching adults and university students and have experience of teaching both.