Hi there!

My name is Nic, I am a 30 year old **GOETHE-INSTITUTE - certified** full-time German teacher.

I hold a Master's degree in teaching English and Geography (completed at the University of Freiburg, Germany, with 2 semesters at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK) and have been tutoring pupils in German and English (alongside Latin and Maths) for more than ten years. My teaching experience has significantly increased in the last four years especially, I taught German and English to adults in a language school between 2017-2018 before I went on to live in Bristol, England, where I worked as German Assistant at a highly prestigious independent school.

Since April 2020, I have focused on teaching German to students around the world online and have taught more than 1.500 lessons over the last 1,5 years.

In January 2022, I completed my ***Teaching German as a Foreign Language Certificate*** of the acclaimed Goethe Institute (Grade 1,0 = excellent).

Over the course of my teaching career I have not only learned how important it is to have a good lesson structure but also how to explain certain grammatical topics in the most efficient way. I have also realised that my most important and characteristic teaching resource is my motivated, patient and joyful nature! Over the years, this has enabled me to establish many cheerful professional relationships with my students and make language learning fun and entertaining for them. I insist that we learn best when we have a positive relationship with our teacher (as well as the content of learning) and I have observed that I could establish that frequently in my lessons.

Being a positive and outgoing person I enjoy all sorts of things social, be it in the form of sports or recreational. I enjoy playing volleyball, squash, juggling and DIY. Whenever I can, I travel to other countries and learn about their culture and, if possible, language (I am currently learning Spanish). I have spent quite a lot of time abroad and have enjoyed every minute of it!

Qualifications:

- *** Teaching German as a Foreign Language CERTIFICATE obtained 01/2022 ***

"DLL (Deutsch Lehren Lernen) Standard" course of the acclaimed Goethe Institute (internationally recognized certificate of teaching German as a foreign language)

- Master's Degree in Teaching English and Geography up to A-Levels (grades 5 - 13 in Germany) (completed 05/2018)

Experience:

- currently teaching German to adults (1:1 as well as group sessions) for the language school WordCafé Freiburg, Germany, alongside Verbalplanet

- 2 year German Assistant job in Bristol, England (2018 - 2020)

- private tutoring in English, German, Latin and Maths since 2008

- several internships at secondary schools during my studies

- translation service for the youth welfare office Freiburg, Germany, as well as the Three Countries Museum, Lörrach, Germany

- extensive engaging with people from different cultural and linguistic background during private travels

Languages open the door to another world.

I want to help you open that door! I believe that this is best possible by learning a language naturally. This means that language learning needs to be put into context in order to be fun and effective. By working largely with real sources (texts, video and audio) and structuring exercises alongside these in a step-by-step manner ("scaffolding"), I make the content accessible to my students. Nevertheless one needs to be aware that we always need to learn things by heart when we learn a language, be it vocabulary or grammar rules. By focusing on the basis of the language structure and recapitulating basic rules and vocabulary frequently, I make sure that my students really understand what the language is made of. As mentioned above, I insist that a positive relationship between student and teacher is key to learning efficiently and having a positive feeling while doing so. My positive and energetic character has proven to motivate students and make language learning fun and entertaining for them.

In terms of teaching material, I use not only PDF and Word documents but also Google Docs and Google Miro (a whiteboard application). That way my students and I can edit and share worksheets in real time.

I am looking forward to hearing from you!