Ruth Hopkins

I have extensive experience teaching at university and college level. In Utrecht, the Netherlands, I worked as a law lecturer for four years at a journalism college and more recently, from 2012 – 2018, I worked as a lecturer in investigative journalism at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since I returned to the UK in 2019, I have completed a CELTA certificate.

After my return to the UK I have gained experience teaching Chinese students English online with the companies Itutor and Whales English. I also gained experience teaching students in person English, refugees in Lancaster (UK) and stateless migrants in Amsterdam (the Netherlands).

I have a degree in Creative Writing from Wits University in Johannesburg. During my teaching career I gained experience teaching TEFL to disadvantaged teenagers in a Johannesburg township and burns victims who also lived in Johannesburg. The teenagers and burns victims were enrolled in a creative writing course I designed, set up and taught. English was not a primary language for these young adults, so I gained experience teaching English as a foreign language in this setting. I have a passion for helping vulnerable groups of people find their voice so they can write their life stories.