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Professional Teacher

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English

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Spanish

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Teaches

English

Native

Speaks

Spanish

Other

About Me

Me as a Teacher

My lessons & teaching style

Resume & Certificates

From United KingdomLiving in Other, United Kingdom (23:21 UTC+00:00)

About Me

italki teacher since Apr 7, 2020

Hello! I'm Syd, I'm a 32 year old English teacher. I was born in London. I spent most of my 20's living and working in Spain as an English teacher. I'm back in the UK now and currently living in the historic town of Hastings. I have a passion for people and their stories. I feel really proud to have two degrees under my belt. I love academics and I'm particularly good at academic writing but I love to talk about anything and everything. My interests and hobbies are very diverse but nowadays I spend most of my spare time walking my dogs, rollerblading, painting and thinking.

Me as a Teacher

In 2011 I took my first steps into teaching by completing a CELTA course, which is largely regarded as the most recognised English teaching certificate in the world. With this, I moved to Spain and worked for 6 years in language academies. I taught all different types of people: children, adults, pensioners, the unemployed, business-men and women, civil servants, academics, students and more! I have ample experience in exam preparation and have helped many students get their FCE. I also use my creative skills to produce my own materials and have aspirations to publish these one day.

My lessons & teaching style

The most important thing about my style of teaching is that I adapt to the needs and wants of my student. Nonetheless, I usually endeavour to find a balance between grammar, vocabulary and the four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). I use different online tools and learning platforms for my structured classes. I also provide all my students with free weekly reading and listening materials. Students often like to start with some conversation classes. We discover the student's gaps naturally this way. When we identify a problem-area, it seems to motivate the student to fix it! At this point, we often change to structured grammar classes...or not!

My teaching material

PDF file
Text Documents
Image files
Graphs and charts
Presentation slides/PPT
Video files
Homework Assignments
Quizzes
Articles and news
Audio files

Certificates

CELTA - Sussex Downs College - 2011The CELTA certificate, awarded by the University of Cambridge, is the world's most recognised TEFL qualification. This rigorous course requires the students to teach real English classes to real students in front of a panel of fellow teachers. Each class is followed by peer feedback. The course is a fantastic preparation for classroom teaching and also equips teachers with best practices and a world-leading methodology for teaching English.

Certificate verified

Education

2008 - 2011

Bachelor’s - HumanitiesUniversity of BrightonThe Humanities BA covers elements of history, philosophy, political theory, sociology, psychology, law and critical studies. I was elated when I found out I had won a scholarship for academic excellence, awarded for the consistently high grades my essays had achieved. I ended the degree with first class honours and a big smile.

2017 - 2018

Master's - Poverty and DevelopmentUniversity of Sussex - IDSThe Poverty and Development MA at IDS, ranked 1st in the world for development studies, prepares students with the knowledge and skills to engage professionally with the design, implementation and assessment of national and international poverty reduction. As a language teacher, my research focussed on linguistics and the power of certain buzzwords to influence international agendas. My research was at the forefront of development debate and achieved the grade of distinction.

Work Experience

2011 - 2012

English TeacherChisholm School of English - Barcelona, SpainI worked for one year in this language academy teaching English to adults and children. I also gave one-to-one classes to three university professors in La Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. At the end of the year, I designed my own two-week summer camp for young learners, in which we produced a short film.

2012 - 2013

English TeacherBCN Languages - Barcelona, SpainI was delighted to land a job with BCN languages after only one year in the industry. The chain of academies is considered to be one of the best and most professional in Barcelona. I taught English to adults and teenagers and was responsible for all aspects of their learning including examination preparation, homework, report writing and parents meetings.

2013 - 2015

English TeacherThe English School - Ourense, SpainThe Clara-Silva English school in Ourense is the most well-established language academy in the historic Galician city of Ourense. Here, I taught English to groups of children aged 7-18 in a private language academy. My main responsibility was to engage my students in fun activities with the aim of improving their fluency and pronunciation. I gained invaluable experience preparing students for their Trinity examinations. I also enjoyed putting on a yearly theatrical play for the parents.

2015 - 2016

English TeacherBCN Languages - Barcelona, SpainOn returning to Barcelona, I was again elated to take a job with BCN Languages in their brand new academy located a stone's throw from Camp Nou Stadium. This year I was focussed mostly on FCE preparation and gained valuable experience in exam preparation. Nonetheless, I also taught levels A1 through to C1. I also used my photoshop skills to produce a short comic with my younger learners.

2017 - 2017

English TeacherIdioms Plus - Barcelona, SpainIdioms Plus is a start up located in Barcelona, which offers language services to large enterprises. I really enjoyed giving classes of business English in a large pharmaceutical company located just outside of Barcelona. My responsibilities included conducting level testing and designing an English course appropriate to their needs. I was also in charge of creating and uploading materials onto their interactive online platform for language learning.

2018 - 2020

MentorEggTooth - Hastings, United KingdomRecently I have been working on a mental health project for socio-economically poor children in the local area. We work directly with kids who find themselves in crisis at school. This has given me valuable experience with people who have special educational needs, including autism and ADHD.

5.0

Rating

165

Students

1,063

Lessons

100%

Attendance rate

100%

Response rate

5.0

Rating

165

Students

1063

Lessons

100%

Attendance rate

100%

Response rate

English Lessons

Trial Lesson

105 lessons completed

USD 5.00+

General Conversation

B1 - C2

Conversation

429 lessons completed

USD 12.00+

Package with 7% off

Structured Classes

A1 - C2

Language Essentials

199 lessons completed

USD 35.00

Package with 9% off

Longterm Student Discount

A1 - C2

Conversation

330 lessons completed

USD 15.00

Package with 7% off

Availability

Based on your timezone (UTC+00:00)

144 Reviews

618c0a

44 English lessons

Teacher’s pick

Impressive very precise mistakes correction work, great lesson, thank you very much Sydney

Oct 30, 2020

023503

11 English lessons

very nice teacher i like it

May 22, 2021

71475f

36 English lessons

AWESOME

May 21, 2021

61ca15

8 English lessons

Teacher’s pick

Brilliant as always Syd! The chat was an absolute blast with a lot of musical and cultural references :) I appreciate it so much all the corrections and explanations, they are really helpful! Looking forward to the next ones :)

Jul 1, 2020