What do you care most about during a lesson?

The student is the most important matter. I sometimes have my ideas of what to teach, of what the students need and how to teach it. But students are not machines, and every student responds in a completely different way. This is what I must keep in mind, otherwise I teach for the sake of teaching, but the person does not learn very much. This means that I must adapt continuously and even to make quick changes. Sometimes I need to change the activity on the spot or even skip it.

Students are sometimes frustrated because they have the feeling that they do not learn quick enough. Is there some advice you can give them?

It takes some time until the new concepts are consolidated. So, when the students are learning they are in a process that involves thinking, processing, analysing concepts.

You can compare learning with cooking: there are some delicious dishes that you must prepare on a   day, but you can  only eat after one or two days, because then the flavour unfolds better. The same is with learning: it takes some time before the new structures, or the new vocabulary are consolidated, and the learner can make full use of them.

We can read the phrase “Never stop learning – never stop growing” on your website. Why have you chosen this slogan?

I have always been fascinated by learning. Learning is fantastic, because knowing about things makes you independent and you can talk about different topics. It does not necessarily have to be languages. But I think that people sometimes  get demotivated by saying “I am too old” or “I have no time”. Yet, we learn in everyday life, and we need to keep trying and doing. This makes you grow, even in the tiny little things. You do not necessarily have to enrol on a course. Some people have the ability to teach themselves, others need to be pushed to get started. Nowadays there are so many tools that help with learning.

How has Covid-19 changed your way of teaching?

My way of teaching has not changed completely. I had to adapt because it has been a big jump to go from personal to online teaching.

For me as a teacher I had to find other ways to present some information. For example, if I used to show a physical card in a face-to-face situation, now I can’t use the same card online. I had to find other means to introduce that concept.

Also, for the students there has been a change, because for them it is tiring to learn in front of a screen, it is not natural. This is also the reason, why it takes them longer to react.

This is completely different with the younger generations. I think they will benefit the most from this kind of change.

What courses do you offer?

I offer courses in General and Business English, furthermore I offer courses in English for Specific Purposes or English for Work Experience. Then I can help learners with English for exams, be it for state schools or international ones, and of course with the preparation of all Cambridge tests.

I offer conversation classes, for people who feel the need to use their English. Then I offer courses to “teach the teacher” and I also teach transferrable and management skills.

How can people get in touch with you?

This is my website globalenglishtuition.org: here you can find my contact details. Furthermore, I have my profile on Linkedin and Facebook.

Thank you very much, Giulia, for this interesting conversation.

Conversation recorded on August 13, 2021