Maria Ausilia

Salve!
I am a languages teacher with 44 years’ experience – 10 in Italy and the rest in the UK - in teaching Italian, English and French. Since I was a little girl I have always admired who could speak languages so, after my classical studies at Liceo Classico in Novara, I decided to study languages at University, in Milan, where I graduated with a literary/philosophical theses written entirely in English.
I started to tutor children privately when I was still at school and to teach in schools in 1978 when I was still an undergraduate student. After marrying a British citizen I moved to the UK and I did a PGCE at the University of Bath (Qualifying in French, Italian and English in ’89. I hold the Status of Qualified Teacher. I also took a TEFL qualification.

Availability: From 5th September, Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning and afternoon.

Willing to travel: Home Only

Experience: In my teaching career in Italy as well as in the UK I taught mainly full time, still carrying on private tuition. In the UK I taught in some of the most prestigious and academically demanding and successful independent schools, where I was Head of Italian. I also taught French. During those years and up to date I have prepared many candidates in Italian for the Oxbridge entrance test and interview. I also helped them with their personal statement in their UCAS forms and in-between jobs I also taught English as a FL in summer schools in Oxford! Having done no other job in my life it is obvious that I love teaching, not only the language, but also the culture and the history of a country and especially the literature.
I am familiar with most examination Boards having taught them for GCSE, IGSCE, As, A-Level (Edexcel, OCR, IGCSE Cambridge), IB (Italian language A, Language ab initio). I have also been an A-Level examiner marking essay papers.
As a teacher I have taught all ages (from 6 years old to 80+) and all range of abilities, therefore I can adapt easily to the needs of any type of student. Although I tend to follow the communicative approach because I think it is the most fruitful I also teach grammar (according to the level) and I tailor-make my lessons to suit the needs and the personality of each one of my students always stretching them to the maximum of their abilities. I am versed in teaching examination techniques in order to achieve the highest grades. And all of my students have indeed obtained those grades! In 2008, 8/10 of the best performing GCSE candidates in Italian, in the UK, were my pupils, and none of them was a bilingual or a native speaker. They were all British natives who started to learn Italian from scratch. Even the Headmistress was amazed!
In all these years I have created an enormous amount of resources so my lessons are mainly based on them. I have also written model essays to guide my students and created specimen/exam papers in order to give them more practise and boost their confidence. According to my past students (and their parents!) my lessons are inspiring, entertaining, creative, encouraging, supportive. None of the thousands of students I taught in these 44 years has ever found my lessons boring. Some of my past students still write to me.
Now that I have retired I miss the contact with pupils, that is why I am still tutoring, and I have embarked in a new challenge by preparing students for the European Language Framework examinations (level A1 to C2), as well as assisting, in Italian, a university languages student through her exams and her dissertation which she wants to write entirely in Italian.
Have I talked too much? I hope not, but if you think I do not have the energy to carry on after all this teaching years, think of how much more energy is required to organize and lead a school exchange to Italy (giving up half term!!) as I have done for 20 years in my last but one school!
Since January I have started to teach in schools again. I am currently teaching A level Italian (part time) in a well known and selective international school/college in Oxford.
Teaching gives my joy and makes me feel young and useful to my learners

DBS Check: Yes