Diplom Germanistin Moskauer Staatliche Linguistische Universität
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Certificate in Advanced Englisch issued by University of Cambridge City&Guilds — National Vocational Qualification - certificate in teaching adult learners, issued by the City and Guilds of London Institute
Hello, my name is Valentina.
I was born in Moscow, in winter, I guess in the coldest period of the Cold War, that’s why the song” Longing for the Sun” is really about me:)
My father was a journalist and because of his profession my little family travelled often with him. This is why, when I was little I went to a school in Berlin for 3 years. Despite all my horror of learning a totally new language, after some time I fell in love with German language and through it with German culture. Eagerly I have studied Germanistik (German Studies) for 5 amazing years. As a part time of my Masters degree I have studied for two unforgettable semesters in Humbold University in Berlin. There I met my future husband, and after some time of searching for our vocation we moved to London, so I had some kind of déjaàvu in the UK, resulting in a certificate of Advanced English, issued by the University of Cambridge.
I am an experienced teacher for German, English and Russian. I have an up to dated DBS Certificate .
I have worked for 14 years at Southend Adult Community College, Essex, and for 6 years online. I have a Master degree in German studies.
I have also worked with OCR for 2 years - as an exam editor. I offer help to children and adults, from Beginners to University students. One of my student, who started with me from scratch, studies now Russian at Selwyn College Cambridge. I am very proud of her!
I perform one to one tuition, group teaching, personal or online teaching.
Flexible schedule and individual approach. For example: I can create a crash course for skiers or bankers. I embed a thought provoking questions in my lessons, based on a wide spectrum of humanitarian subjects like History, Literacy, Religious Studies and Art E.g "Has Martin Lüther contributed to the German language as much as William Shakespeare to English ?"
Or : Children labour under the Tzar in the 19th century: demonstration of the famous painting of Perov "Troika”. “ To be a child -is it a privilege or a routine?” “If you were born at that time…..…?”.-practicing Konjunktiv / subjunctive-
I have taught English online to some Russian students. One of them studies economics in Finnland. All classes are held in English.
Book a trial lesson with me !
Wolfgang Goethe said : „Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen“ couldn’t agree more. What do you think ?
I love teaching to my students and learning from them. It’s an amazing never ending process. Big thank you to all my previous and future students!