My name is Marina. I was born in Milan to an English mother and an Italian father, I grew up speaking both English and Italian.
I have called London home for most of my adult life, but am still eager to travel anywhere and everywhere! I think that this, coupled with my love for meeting new people, has led me to a lifelong love of languages and culture.
I came to teaching a few years following my art degree, firstly I took a Teaching English qualification before qualifying as a teacher of art. I’ve been teaching in one form or another for well over a decade, mostly teaching art, but whenever the opportunity presented, I have enjoyed teaching English pronunciation, Italian and some very basic conversational French and Spanish.
My own language journey developed after leaving school, when I took a year out to travel, zig zagging from London to Crete, a place that I had immediately felt at home in from my first chance visit. Staying there for the best part of that year, I wanted to feel part of the local community so was keen to do this by learning some Greek! At first I learned some basic phrases, which built my confidence especially when local friends reacted encouragingly. I remember listening to the radio and slowly, I began picking out words, then gradually the odd sentence and eventually whole passages became familiar. It took me a while to be able to feel confident to speak but, by the end of the year, I managed to hold conversations in most daily situations. I think that the most important lesson I learned is that, when you speak a language, even at a basic level, the culture, people and the places you visit become so much more accessible, enriching the experience. This, I think, is priceless!
I am so looking forward to supporting you in your language journey hoping to create a positive and fun learning environment where you can learn at your pace.