Madeleine Nicholson

Details

My background

I'm a friendly, adaptable and experienced tutor and teacher from the south of England, specialising in foreign language teaching, grammar and English.

One of the reasons I'm a good teacher is the way I prioritise the needs of my student; identifying the goals the student would like to meet is the first step, and customising the teaching methods to the learning style of the student is the second. This adaptability is an important asset because it makes the learning process most effective, but also most enjoyable! My job is to help you or your child learn, improve and meet your goals, but I want to share my passion for these fields and hopefully make sessions enjoyable as well as effective.

My experience learning six foreign languages gives me an excellent understanding of the exact experience the student is undertaking, which means I personally understand the challenges and the common - and uncommon - mistakes. This puts me in the perfect position to be an understanding and sympathetic figure, as well as an effective teacher.

It's important to me that I have a good relationship with my students, whether they're adults or children. I'm a friendly, relaxed person, and in my experience, a warm, encouraging learning environment enables the best progress; a class where mistakes are celebrated is a class where we know exactly what to work on next! I encourage a healthy, positive environment that's conducive to good progress and fosters growing confidence.

My personal interests include: historical linguistics and etymology, the subject of my future PhD research; hand embroidery, I often make clothes or undertake needlework projects; poetry and literature, I read extensively, and I often write too; music, until recently I was a part of an a cappella choir, and I continue to sing and listen to music as a key part of my personal life; before the pandemic, I was a passionate traveller, and I've been lucky enough to see a lot of the world and have some incredible, diverse experiences.

I teach foreign languages from any level, for any goal, and I'm comfortable to give competent instruction in English language and literature, and coaching a cross-curriculum range of subjects for SATs and GCSEs, as well as guidance in successful university applications, job applications and interview skills.

Experience

I graduated with first class honours from Royal Holloway, University of London, with a degree in Multilingual Studies with a Year Abroad and a Distinction in German Oral Communication, where I studied French, German and Spanish. Throughout the duration of my a levels and continuing during degree, I have tutored extensively in French, German, Spanish, and English (in/through various languages), to a very wide range of abilities and experiences (A1 to C2), to students aged 3 to 88 of diverse nationalities. I have a current TEFL qualification, and I recently spent time in Kraków and Zielona Góra in Poland, undertaking intensive additional training, followed by managing and delivering the English input for two classes of bilingual kindergarteners full time.

Outside this field of language tutoring, I have experience as a translator and interpreter, as well as freelance work copy writing, editing and proofreading for a variety of clients.

Qualifications

First Class Honours degree in Multilingual Studies with a Year Abroad, with a Distinction in German Oral Communication
TEFL
English Wizards Intensive Training Course

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