French - Beginner

My first taste of language learning came early in life when I’d eavesdrop on my bilingual Mum’s conversations in French with her Belgian cousins. Although I wasn’t brought up to be bilingual myself, I was lucky enough to have lots of family holidays in Belgium, which definitely helped when I started learning French and Spanish at school.

Later in life I went on to study Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Edinburgh. With a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck I graduated with a 1st class degree in 2006. I later gained a PGCE in Spanish and French at KCL, and became a qualified teacher working in London secondary schools.

I have taught (and learnt) languages all over the world including Chile, Argentina, Portugal, Vietnam, and Hong Kong - and more locally in Oxford, Banbury, and London. I have lots of experience of working with children, teenagers, and adults and just love teaching and learning languages.

As well as speaking Spanish, French, and Portuguese I have dabbled in learning Cantonese, Russian, Japanese, Georgian, and Samoan! My current language obsession is Greek - and I plan to stick with this one. It’s so helpful to be reminded how overwhelming learning a new language can seem at first - and the importance of keeping it fun.