Mr P – 1:1 French, Learning for Pleasure

by | Jul 6, 2016

As he approached retirement, Mr P decided to set himself the challenge of improving his French. “I enjoy spending time in France with friends but found it hard to communicate with the locals as I had forgotten a lot of my school French. I had 36 hours of intensive French tuition with Language Learners and was really pleased with the results. From the first class I was using full sentences rather than random, unconnected words and my teacher worked to build up my vocabulary, grammar and confidence with each session. By the end I could communicate well in the past, present and future and talk about relevant topics such as ordering food, suggesting activities and going to the doctor. I am looking forward to my next trip to France!”

Liz K – French group class

by | Jul 6, 2016

Liz joined our Thursday morning French group in Guildford. This is what she says: “My father spoke five languages competently and was a native Italian speaker. My mother is half Spanish and as a young woman spoke both English and Spanish fluently. Unfortunately for me though, growing up in England my parents taught us no languages at all. The chance for me to live in French-speaking Switzerland for a few years in the 1990s, with my husband and growing young family, clearly demonstrated to me the importance of having a second language. I had French at school level and could just about ‘get by’ day to day, but I realised how far my/our lack of language skills restricted our opportunities to really gain from our time living in the centre of Europe.

Now many years later and owning a home in the Swiss Alps, I recently needed to significantly progress my working knowledge of French to cope with the redevelopment of our property there and so liaise with builders and suppliers. Language Learners group lessons, delivered by Teri, really targeted what I needed to learn as she took time to discover what my needs for French were, amongst the others in our group. I enjoyed fun and diverse learning sessions where all key language skills were addressed; vocabulary and scenarios relevant to houses and building really helped me specifically. For the first time too, grammar was understandable. Teri’s grammar sheets clearly showed how to construct particular tenses and the structure of sentences in terms of word order – something I had always struggled with at school.

Language Learners lessons have definitely progressed my ability in French and I feel confident to liaise in a multitude of scenarios. I still have a lot to learn, but I know I can speak, read and write at a much higher level than ever before and my understanding, gained from a range of interactive listening exercises, has also progressed. Our group lessons were always interesting and mutually supportive. Importantly, I learned loads. I’m looking forward to starting some new sessions soon!”

Andy L – 1:1 German, Business Tuition

by | Jul 6, 2016

Andy found languages difficult at school but had decided that he wanted to train as a ski instructor – in Switzerland! Language Learners put together a programme of classes over a period of 6 months so that he would be able to communicate in the past, present and future. We also took care to cover ski-specific vocabulary including the names of 8 different types of ski lift and practised role plays from ordering coffee to calling mountain rescue for an injured client. Andy has since returned to the UK, with his ski qualification, and has returned to Language Learners to pick up his German with a view to taking Goethe Institute exams before the next ski season starts. This is what he said: “ Teri’s lessons were great fun and really well structured, from tenses and grammar, to specific lessons on Ski vocabulary, she really took into account my requirements and level.  When I come back next year I will definitely be continuing the lessons and improving my language skills further.”

Callum A – German, AS resit and A2 tuition

by | Jun 24, 2016

After less than pleasing results in my son’s AS German exam last year, we decided together that a tutor would be a great benefit. I found Teri online through Language Learners and we never looked back.

She provided a weekly boost of confidence, firm guidance and encouragement to help my son with any weaknesses he had in the exam material as he went through his A Level year and helped him to improve immensely. I think the weekly lesson gave him the chance to go over any problems he was having as they arose throughout the year, rather than trying to cram just weeks before the exam. We both found Teri to be a wonderful teacher with an abundance of enthusiasm, good ideas for connecting with a teenage boy and drive to motivate him to reach his full potential.

Now my son is studying German at university and thoroughly enjoying it and we are very thankful for having found Teri to help him achieve his goal.