French native speaker and English literature graduate provides language and literature teaching - all levels

Hello!

I am a French native speaker and a graduate of English and Creative Writing from Goldsmiths University (London), and I have experience in the publishing and art press industries. I am able to provide teaching in both French and English language and literature.

Exchanging knowledge with classmates or younger students I have mentored has always been my favourite part of learning. I believe successful learning happens through conversation and awareness of people's needs, but also, through entertainment. As a French native who moved to London at 18 barely speaking English, I can safely say that meeting people in work settings and devouring culture -- films, series, songs, etc. -- is what made me fluent. Language classes pre-university failed me due to archaic modes of teaching, too focused on the language's technicalities, such as grammar, and not enough on the language's culture. School language classes fail to teach us how to understand and behave in other cultures. I instead wish to provide a kind of teaching that feels lively and focused on meaningful human interactions, namely through a close link with arts and culture.

As my student -- all levels welcome -- you will be invited to approach language from a creative and participative point of view. Material for classes will namely be extracted from films, literature, and historical accounts. I will familiarise and make you react to pieces from the other culture, first in your native language to ease the discussion, then progressively in the target language. From a more technical point of view, I will provide regular and extensive vocabulary lists. My teaching will be vocabulary rather than grammar-focused for the following reasons: grammar gets incorporated quite naturally through hearing and partaking in conversations or dialogues in films; vocabulary, however, needs to be actively learned by heart. After all, words of vocabulary are the milestones of a sentence. The grammar around it does not have to be perfect.

For the more advanced or those who wish to specifically receive teaching in French or English literature, I shall tailor to your needs and tastes -- in terms of literary genres, themes, and time periods. I will gladly provide my expertise, but also want you to feel like your own knowledge and tastes are as valid as mine.

Cheers!
Clara