Teaching Experience: 6+ years
Courses: General English, Business English , Conversational English, English for young learners
Education:
— Higher Certificate in Early Childhood Development
— TEFL Certificate
Hello! My name is Catherine.
After graduating high school, I studied English Literature, teaching and management. I obtained my higher certificate in Early Childhood Development and Management. In addition to these qualifications, I hold an international TEFL Certificate.
I now boast six years of both online and classroom experience, having taught online through MPC Connect and in the classroom at various different primary schools.
My vast experience has afforded me the opportunity to teach students on a multitude of levels and age groups. My youngest student to date was four years of age, a beginner and my oldest was a rather amusing 76 year old retiree from Taiwan.
I have taught and currently teach students from all over the globe. I typically tutor students from China, Taiwan, Poland and the Ukraine.
I am an experienced and proficient tutor in beginner, pre-intermediate, intermediate, advanced, general, conversational, business and grammatical English, I often tutor business English face to face with business associates in my city whose first language is isiXhosa. Given the fact that isiXhosa is my third language, the language barrier is almost non-existent. My business English students who frequent my home for their lessons work in the automotive, marketing and tourism sector. I tutor them on professional writing, speaking and terminology using both online and personally created teaching materials.
I believe that all students are individuals and everyone learns in their own unique way. I use multiple methods of teaching (linguistic, visual, auditory, kinesthetic) to reach students so that no one is left behind.
With respect to teaching methodologies, I veer towards the natural approach. The natural approach was developed by Tracy Terrell and supported by Stephen Krashen is a language teaching approach which claims that language learning is a reproduction of the way humans naturally acquire their native language. This method was developed in the late 1970’s and it is method that my Xhosa professor uses with me in our Xhosa lessons, conversations and correspondence
I consistently encourage my students to ascertain their mistakes,I always allow them a few seconds, then assist if and when necessary.
I am acutely aware that aspects I may deem difficult as a student studying isiXhosa, my third language, are likely the difficulties my own students face whilst learning English as a second or even third language themselves.
When it comes to teaching materials, I enjoy using various course materials, both my own and online materials. I make use of concrete (physical objects which are also known as props or teaching aids), semi concrete (pictures) and abstract (texts) aids to better assist the respective learner to fully grasp the desired concept and/or skill development. In my opinion additional materials such as videos, newspaper articles, drama re-enactments and little songs play a vital role in learning and should be utilized throughout the tutoring process.
In addition to teaching experience, I have years of experience in the logistical, tourism, technical and events industry.