It is always a leap of faith employing a language teacher and in recognition of this I offer a free consultation to all my prospective students. Below are typical questions that we will explore:
- What are your aims/what do you hope to achieve?
- What aspects of the language interest you in particular?
- How often and for how long would you like to study?
- What are the costs and options?
Please get in touch to find out more.
Over the past 20 years I have supported numerous students to reach their next personal or professional goal. Below are some typical scenarios.
Gain Promotion at Work
For numerous jobs foreign language skills are essential to be able to progress to a higher level. In today’s global world languages help bridge the gap between cultures and market places. Not only do they connect people, but also open up new possibilities for partnerships.
A good example of this is one of my advanced students Luca. As a Finance Manager at a major German Bank, he has for several years headed the Italian team. Now he is planning his next career move, i.e. to lead the German team. His understanding of how to communicate in a German speaking business environment and his vocabulary is excellent, but he felt his pronunciation let him down. My approach was to adopt ideas often used by actors, this includes speaking at different volumes to improve articulation, intonation.
Specialist vocabulary for researchers
Many of my students require German for research purposes. This is in addition to communicating effectively with their clients and colleagues in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
What’s pivotal to my corporate students is knowing the right terminology, common expressions and the ability to share ideas in conversation or writing. Where applicable we discuss a broad range of topics that provide insights into German culture.
As an example, at Christie’s Auction House, art specialists, researchers and customer service staff have to deal with an international clientele on a daily basis. By upgrading their language skills my students feel able to approach their foreign counterparts with confidence.
EXCEL WITH ONE-TO-ONE EXAM COACHING
The focus of this particular course is to prepare students for German language exams. Based on the exam syllabus, each student will have their own personal plan that we focus on. My students include school children, teenagers preparing for university and professionals wanting to pass the Goethe Certificate.
Preparation covers the four essential exam areas: Reading, Listening comprehension, Speaking and Writing. Together we identify gaps in your understanding and then build up your knowledge in areas such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and composition.
Finally we’ll simulate the exam situation by using past papers. Your tailor-made course prepares you for a range of exams set by different exam boards. These include: iGCSE, A level, IB, Pre U and the Goethe Certificate ranging from A1 to C2. All exams have different requirements. Good preparation and clever strategies create extraordinary results allowing you to accomplish your academic or professional goals.
Sanne M, From Frankfurt Talks About Learning English with Heide
I studied English at school about 25 years ago. Since then I rarely spoke the language.
When I applied for a new job I knew I’d need to bring my English skills up to scratch.
That’s when I met Heide. She was working in Berlin and I was in Frankfurt. For little over three months we met online, usually between two to four hours a week, depending on my workload.
She tickled out what I remembered and built up the parts I needed for my oral and written business communication.
Since we didn’t have much time she structured each meeting in a goal orientated manner: producing a range of emails, a CV and practicing questions and answers for my interview.
Heide is a pleasure to work with because she takes the effort to adapt the lessons to the interests and character of the student in a way that makes learning easy.
We approached each lesson in a focused way, yet found there was always space for humour and humanity!
