Areas of Interest

Maths

I really enjoyed maths at a young age, and was pretty nifty. The UK Maths Challenges were a little highlight of my year. Mind you, I had a good head start: my Dad was particularly nifty himself and passed on the interest, often (having to) play arithmetic games with me. I even had a times table poster by my bed, which I would stare at looking for tricks and patterns.

So a knack for arithmetic and problem solving beyond the steps taught at school has come largely through play and curiosity. I’m confident that I can bring mathematics into pretty much any topic of interest to the student, and at the very least, I’d like to share a level of comfort and ability with the foundations of mathematics.

English

My renewed interest in languages comes largely from an interest in its role in the thinking process. That and the value of being able to listen and communicate more expressively, and more universally - as seen from my recent trip to Mexico, where my Spanish studies helped me to build special friendships. It was in Mexico that a mother who ran the local cafe asked if I could help her daughter with her English studies that were part of her Engineering degree, and that was the start of taking English teaching more seriously.

Having studied French, Italian, German and now Spanish (I’m not counting Latin), I feel I have some useful insights into how to effectively explore and learn foreign languages, as well as how to deepen an understanding of the English language and culture.

French

French fluency comes via family and academia. My mother and her four sisters grew up in Paris, and the gorgeous presqu'île (“almost island”) of Quiberon, Brittany, has become a home away from home amongst the French-speaking cousins. I also studied French with Economics at Nottingham University, which included a year living and working in Paris. This helps me to bring a knowledge of the real spoken French and French culture to classes, including some of the songs on my ‘That’s Moutarde’ Spotify playlist.

Chess

When I was 7 or so, my claim to fame was that I drew a chess match with a Grandmaster. Unfortunately, that doesn’t tell the full story - he was playing 7 other people at the time; I was losing heavily; and my Dad snuck in to point out a stalemate.

That said, I did enjoy chess as a kid, again playing regularly with my dad, and got to a good level. Fast forward 20 years, and I’m playing more regularly than ever, after I was asked if I could teach chess to some kids. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert player, but I do enjoy some of the soft skills that come with chess, like patience, perseverance, learning from mistakes and good sportsmanship.

“SEN” (Special Education Needs)

I’ve worked with many children with SEN, including diagnoses of dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD and autism. Personally, I am wary of how the perception of others affects us in subtle ways, so while diagnoses may provide some context, I like to come in with as fresh a perspective as possible.

I mention this as a key part of my approach is a general belief in a person’s potential to learn something if they would like to and the learning material is appropriate - even if initially there may be all kinds of barriers to identify and look at together. I get great satisfaction from working with people with such barriers to learning, as overcoming them in small ways can be transformative to their overall outlook.

Extra-Curricular Activities and Dialogue sections to come.