Hari

ABOUT ME:

I am a patient, friendly and enthusiastic BA/MA History graduate with a background in teaching and archives/museums.

My subject strengths are: History, English Literature and English Language.
I specialise in: improving literacy and academic writing skills, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL), preparing for IELTS testing, and supporting students with special educational needs.

I have a History BA from Bristol University (First, 2008) and an Africa/Asia History MA from SOAS (Merit, 2011). For my MA I specialised in Chinese history. I am also a qualified Archivist (PG-Cert., 2:1, Dundee University, 2015).

I am passionate about history, languages, and arts. At school I studied Welsh, French and German and I have been learning Mandarin since 2010. I understand what it is like to study another language!

MY APPROACH TO TUTORING:

As a child I went to many types of schools: state, private, bilingual, Steiner, Montessori, single sex and co-educational so I am familiar with different teaching styles.

I work hard to enable my students to reach their learning goals and feel motivated to continue learning. I quickly find out each individual’s learning needs, likes and dislikes so they will feel comfortable in our lessons and inspired to progress.

I am very flexible and willing to tailor our lessons to my students’ preferred learning methods: I am able to adjust the structure, level and content of our lessons.

I inspire my students to believe in themselves and push themselves forward whatever their pace.

Availability: Currently: weekdays, evenings and weekends.

Willing to travel: 4 miles

Experience: My teaching background spans 13 years. As a teaching assistant in mainstream schools (London and Bristol) I taught students with specific educational needs, such as ESL or dyslexia.
I have taught in residential schools for students with complex difficulties, including severe autism or Down’s Syndrome.
I have mentored students with poor literacy skills and a background of truancy in order to build their confidence and motivate them to enjoy learning.

As a TEFL teacher I have taught English to children (3-18 years) and adults in India, China and Taiwan. I have taught one-to-one classes, and classes with between 2-25 students.
In Taiwan and China I privately tutored preparatory skills for IELTS (an international English proficiency test), business English and academic writing skills (e.g. dissertation and thesis writing). I coached one undergraduate preparing to study an MA in English Literature in the UK.