Sophie

Hello!

Hello, I´m Sophie, a CELTA qualified teacher of English as a second language and small business owner. Originally from the UK, I have been living in France for more than 15 years and speak a good level of French and native level English with a neutral accent. I have a strong interest in cross cultural communication and the impact of culture on education and language learning and the importance of cultural understanding in the classroom and workplace. I have worked extensively with teens, young adults and professionals to build conversational confidence and work towards exam preparation, interviews, university and work life . Having lived and worked abroad for many years whilst raising my children, I understand the unique struggles and frustrations of learning and living life using a language that isn´t your own! I look forward to meeting you and supporting you in your unique language journey.

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my profile! My name is Sophie and was born in the UK but have lived in North America but moved to France about 16 years ago. I spent several years living on a smallholding growing vegetables and raising sheep and chickens, but now I live in a small, cultural city in the south west, near to Bordeaux with my Portuguese husband, three almost grown up children as well as our three cat and a pigeon! We are a multicultral, multilingal family, mixing the languages and cultures of the UK, France and Portugal. At times, this journey of living abroad, working in a foreign country and raising mulitlingual children whilst grappling with the difficulties of learning new languages myself, but overall, it has been a beautiful and rewarding experience. Now that my children are older ( they are 20, 18 and 14), I have been able to dedicate more of my free time to learning and I have become passionate about the role of culture in education and employment as well as spending time developing my professional qualifications and I have now passed Business Education, Exam Preparation and Young Learners specialist courses. I have extensive experience helping students to prepare for the IELTS,TOEIC, TOEFL and EIKEN English profficiency exams as well as preparation for interviews, meetings, presentations. I particularly specialise in developing confidence in speaking and in cultural awareness. Finally, I love to travel and have been to many countries around the world including Greenland where I stood on the north polar ice cap! I also enjoy all kinds of music, literature, and art and enjoy shopping for electric guitars and French antiques! I am passionate about food and really enjoy learning about food culture and swapping recipes!

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