Duncan O'Neil

Member since Jul 2020

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Details

Key area of interest

French

Keywords

Common Entrance, KS3, GCSE, IGCSE, AS and A-Level

My background

I am a former Head of MFL with twenty-three years' experience with many UK exam boards and some international. My pupils have been drawn from KS3, KS4 and KS5. I have also prepared students for UCAS/ Oxbridge. I have taught in three prestigious independent schools in the UK and am looking to move online and am excited about this new opportunity. Happy to teach courses from scratch or to offer "top up" lessons to students' own school experience. Equally happy to teach 1-2-1 or in small groups.

Experience

As a native English speaker, I know the problems English-speakers face when learning a foreign language but it needed be difficult! I like to adopt a comparative approach to learning and my students often comment on how much more they understand English, too, as a result! My lessons are fun, interactive, engaging and facilitate learning at pace. By using a "Chunking" approach, I ensure a solid grammatical awareness underpins everything we do, empowering students to investigate and formulate their own language rather than simply memorising phrases. I have always produced my own resources, whether teaching year 7 or year 13, and like to use authentic texts wherever possible in order to add a cultural dimension. My lessons are fun, informative, relaxed and I don't judge!

Qualifications

EDUCATION
PGCE (Secondary) Modern Foreign Languages and English - Education, MFL and English teaching
University of Birmingham // Birmingham // 06/1997

BA(hons) Applied Modern Foreign Languages and Politics (2,1) - French, German and Comparative Politics
University of Northumbria (Newcastle) // Newcastle-upon-Tyne // 12/1996

DEUGII (Langues Etrangères Appliquées et Sciences Politiques) (19/20) - Applied Modern Foreign Languages (English, French and German) and Political Science
Université de Bourgogne (Dijon) // Dijon, France // 06/1995

A-Levels - French A (with Distinction); English Literature (A); German (B)
King's School // Worcester // 07/1992

Twenty-three years' experience (Former Head of Department; Head of French and Head of German) in three prestigious independent schools in the UK, teaching French and German to A-Level. Consistently good value added at each level.

Currently studying TEFL Level 5.