My name is Jennifer. I am a mother of two, owner of two black labs and wife to another teacher. I am a language teacher and life-long language learner. I love teaching and I love the subjects I teach. I taught for nearly twenty years in two wonderful schools and the experience I gained has made me the teacher I am today.
I started my company Languages for All Ltd in July 2021, after the closure of my school. We had just five weeks’ notice of the closure and it was an exhausting and emotionally draining time for all involved; staff, students, parents and the wider community. So, I arrived at the summer holidays, usually the golden time in any teacher’s world, but this time I was unsettled, mourning the loss of my school, my colleagues and my students. I spent the first day of my holidays unpacking all the resources I had brought back from school and setting up my study. Then I felt flat. I didn’t want to celebrate and I couldn’t relax. I was emotionally exhausted. I had no job, but I did have an idea …
Cue a phone call from my Dad. My Dad has been successfully running his own businesses for over thirty-five years. He has a wealth of experience, and he knew just what to say to me. I left the call with more than just an idea. I had a plan of things to do over the next few days and I got started. I set up my limited company, chose a name and registered. I set up a Facebook page and began to advertise. Ex-students got in touch over the summer, seeking tuition, many were picking up new languages in new schools and wanted a foundational knowledge before they started.
Initially I had just two students on my books, but gradually more ex-students got in touch, and even some of their parents. I began to advertise and build a name for myself. Following interest from several adults, I set up a Beginner’s Spanish Group. This group is still ongoing and is such a joy to teach! At the start of this academic year I set up my first group lesson for children, offering the chance to learn a language not available in school. This group is so much fun and the learners are really motivated – they all hope to sit an extra GCSE in Spanish alongside their other ones in a few years.
So, here I am, nearly two years later, and I have a thriving language tutoring business and am able to work with people of various ages, from primary school children to adults, supporting them in achieving their individual language learning goals. I love it!
I love that I can tailor my lessons to meet the individual needs of my learners. I love supporting GCSE students to overcome hurdles and achieve the grades they want. I love being able to build up the confidence of adult learners, many of whom had a bad experience learning a language previously, but who have returned to give it another go.
You see I have a few strong beliefs about language learning, that make me a bit different:
- I don’t believe you have to have a special talent to learn a language. I believe it is something that anyone can do.
- I encourage my learners to make mistakes. After all, we all make them – even teachers! I think that mistakes can be really helpful in the learning process.
- I believe in all my learners and do my best to help them believe in themselves. A confident learner will always learn more!
- I repeat things … a lot! Not just because my memory isn’t what it once was, but because repetition is key to remembering things. The more we go over and over the vocabulary and grammar again and again, the more chance it will stick.
- I am a life-long language learner, which means that, like my students, I am also learning languages … all of the time.
- I understand the difficulties of learning languages. We all have certain aspects we find hard and because I am still a learner, I know many ways to help my learners overcome these difficulties.
So that’s me and if you like what you’re reading here, then please get in touch!
