Jonathan S.

For twenty-five years I made documentaries for clients including the BBC, National Geographic, Arte and ZDF. The job was explaining something to an audience who knew nothing about the subject and had not asked to learn it. I now teach, and the work is much the same.

I am a native German speaker and a qualified MFL teacher. I tutor German from beginner to A-level, French to GCSE, and adults starting from scratch or returning to it after twenty years. I also prepare children for 11+ entrance in English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. My own son sits his this September, so I am working through the same past papers at home most evenings.

I trained in two contrasting London state secondaries, in Newham and Barking, teaching German and French from KS3 to KS5, including a full year with Year 10 on the Edexcel GCSE specification.

The first lesson is mostly listening. A student stuck on the perfect tense has often never got word order straight, so I begin by finding what is actually secure rather than what has been covered in class, because those are rarely the same thing.

GCSE. Plenty of speaking, because it is the part students avoid and the part parents can least help with at home, and plenty of exam technique, working to the mark scheme, which is a skill separate from knowing the German.

A-level. Literature, translation, and the independent research project, which is assessed in the speaking exam. Narrowing a subject until it can be answered is what I spent twenty-five years doing.

11+. Finding the weak spot, and working on that while keeping the other subjects moving. Where it is one paper only, for example English comprehension, then intensive exam-based practice.

Adults. Whatever you came for, whether that is a holiday, a job, family, or picking up something abandoned at school. Grammar only to the extent that it gets you talking, unless you love grammar.

Mentor observations in both my placement schools noted the same things: a calm room, a kind approach, and students unafraid to attempt the target language.