Katherine

Tutoring Experience

English (TEFL): I’ve taught both adults and children English as a Second Language, and I have a 240hr TEFL teaching certification. I’ve taught English to adults, my best example being a Brazilian 21-year-old who came to London speaking no English whatsoever. Within one year, he was able to communicate comfortably and freely.

Currently, I am privately tutoring 5 children/young adults ranging from age 3-17, as well as a 30 year-old woman and a 55 year woman. I also work for a separate platform and have taught over 200 hours of TEFL lessons to professionals there.
Currently I have over 500 hours of TEFL/ESL teaching experience.

Chemistry, Biology, Maths: I had a tutee achieve ‘9’ and ‘9’ in Chemistry and Maths respectively for her GCSEs in 2019. I took OCR Chemistry and Biology A-level, Edexcel Maths A-level, and (mostly) IGCSEs. Whilst that means I’m most familiar with these exam boards, I always personalise my tutoring to my tutee’s needs.

Medical School: I have helped international students from South Korea work on their medical personal statements and have helped with interview preparation. I am also currently tutoring 3 students UCAT, BMAT and interview prep for admission to Imperial College London School of Medicine.

Tutoring Approach

Chemistry + Biology: I noticed that a lot of people memorise the GCSE/A-level syllabus, but I believe that whilst the process of understanding a concept can be frustrating and time consuming, it really trumps pure memorisation. Tutoring Chemistry and Biology, I’ll first present the concept/chapter; explain the utilisation of it; utilise diagrams, videos and examples; work through problems together; and finally, provide many problems for you to gain more practice.

Maths: At GCSE level, unlike A-level, many people don’t like Maths because you have to take it! Like above, I believe that it’s because concepts are underexplained in a big class of different abilities and students become frustrated. I focus on areas that my tutee struggles with, focus of understanding and work through examples before working systematically through more challenging questions. Rather than non-stop equations, I also try to make it more fun (!).

English (TEFL): When tutoring English, I’ll tailor the lessons towards your goal. Often, I tend to focus a lot on talking/conversation. Whilst grammar, reading and writing are important, I’ve found that once you find the confidence to speak more freely, the rest comes much more quickly and more naturally. Through discussion, videos, short texts, books, writing exercises (etc.) I’ll make learning English a very active and fun learning experience.

Medical School: Applying for medicine is a very stressful process, not only because it’s so competitive, but because the application process is different to most other degrees, and there is so much to organise and juggle. I see tutoring for medical school more as a mentorship, so whilst I will help you organise your mind and show you ways to divide your time, it will ultimately be your job to put in the work, as with most things. Whether how to structure your personal essay, consider what universities to apply to, BMAT/UCAT prep, or interviews, I will work with you through all of that.