Charlotte

Tutoring Experience

I currently teach English at a school in Paris twice a week, and tutor English privately.

I started tutoring during my final year at Oxford, and really enjoy being able to transmit my passion and well-honed study skills. I also tutored French high school students over lockdown, to help them compensate for more limited online teaching.

We worked on study skills and tailored learning methods so as to improve both confidence and grades. We also focussed on in-depth strengthening of given subjects, notably French literature and English language.

I have tutored University (and particularly, Oxbridge) Admissions with three different Oxford-based organisations. I specialise in interview help and practice for Human Sciences (Oxford), Human Social and Political Sciences (Cambridge), Anthropology, and Geography. I have run individual and group workshops for access to Oxbridge. In 2020, 70% of my tutees got an interview and 40% got an offer.

I have also worked in schools. For three months, I was a teacher in an alternative school, where I taught English, Drama and Social Responsibility. Punctually, I also wrote and delivered workshops on topics such as food waste and local food economies in French primary schools

Tutoring Approach

The specific goals set with each student vary from one student to the next, but here are some examples:

- Renewing confidence in a subject when a student has lost motivation: this always leads to grade improvement and renewed excitement
- Targeting exam technique to reach specific marks
- Going further than the classroom content, reaching for excellence
- Strengthening study skills, writing skills, analytical skills
- Getting into a specific university

In terms of how I tutor, I like to have well-planned classes for younger students, whilst with older students I make the session more flexible, guiding the content in response to how they are doing and what they are working on, as well as their own requests. I try to avoid explaining things, but rather ask questions and provide guidance, which enables the student to make their own way through the topic. When content is delivered, I make sure it is interactive. I am naturally inspired by the Oxford tutorial system, which can be an encouraging and challenging way to explore new ideas and go deeper into a subject or question.

French, German and Spanish: I like to work on skills that are harder to develop in the classroom, notably speaking skills. Practicing a language through dialogue is a great way to reinforce vocabulary, perfect pronunciation and elocution, and make grammar become intuitive rather than cerebral. Building confidence in one’s speaking skills is the key to fluency, and it helps address any issues with reading, writing and listening, all of which are easier for teachers to focus on when in large class-sized groups. In terms of my own skills, my French is one of my native languages, and I have fluency in German and Spanish, having done my A-levels in them and lived six months in Colombia and a year and a half in Germany.

French and English Literature: I was lucky enough to study Literature in a bi-cultural system. I benefited from the characteristics of the British teaching methods, which emphasise thinking outside the box and creating one’s own arguments; and the French system, which values method and structure. This really is the best combination for literature. I can help develop the student’s creative and analytical thinking, alongside the communication of these thoughts in well-argued essays. We can focus on specific genres, authors or books depending on the syllabus and what needs to be covered, as well as perfect exam technique if required.

Study Skills: People’s brains all work differently, and so a tailored approach to learning is vital if a student wants to maximise their efficiency, and hopefully, enjoyment in learning. Students sometimes struggle to figure out how and when they learn best, or how to tap into this knowledge of themselves once they have it. Together, we can work on how to make revision material, prepare for tests or exams, write essays efficiently, as well as anything else that emerges from discussions with the student. Again, this is something teachers aren’t expected to provide, and so some tutoring can really make a difference.

Admissions: For Oxbridge applicants, I can help with the TSA admissions test preparation, the personal statement, as well as preparing students for the interview by providing both advice and interview practice, which I offer for several of the subjects I studied at Oxford. I absolutely adore my subject, and very much enjoyed my three interviews. This is because I was well prepared, and was delighted to be able to have such long chats with people who love the same topics as I do. This is my favourite thing to tutor and I would absolutely love to help you get onto your dream course.