Laura Alexander Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Laura! Could you give us a quick self-introduction?: A. Yes, Hi I am Laura, I am 32 and from Manchester in the UK. I used to be a Children’s Nurse but when I left this job my friend encouraged me to train as an English teacher so I could continue to help others. I love photography and spending time outdoors and I hate ironing !
Q. According to your profile, you live in France! How is life there?: A. Fantastic, I absolutely love living in France. I live with my boyfriend, he is French and our dog Java. Life here is very relaxed and and I love the French culture and especially the food ! We spend a lot of time with our friends and live like one big family. They all call me “Franglish” because I live a very French life but still insist on drinking tea every morning.
Q.Do you feel any difference between England and France?: A. Huge differences, life is lived at a much slower pace in France and everyone is more polite and thoughtful. I also think life is a much better quality here and there are so many nice places to visit even in the winter. I also feel much safer in France, I don’t miss England at all and I have only been back twice in seven years. ! Although I still can not get used to the shops being closed on a Sunday here in France and no one ever gives me milk for my tea!
Q. What do you like to do on your holiday?: A. I love visiting the beach and swimming in the sea; I have also just started to learn to ride a pit bike which is like a small motorbike we race on tracks, my boyfriend is an experienced rider, so in the holidays we will go the track to practice more and hopefully soon I will be ready to race. I am the only girl in the club so the boys have to be nice to me!
Q. I’d like to know about your lessons! What is the main feature of them?: A. I love to use material that is really relevant to the student. For example, if my student loves playing Volleyball or cooking then I will find material on this subject. I think it is much more fun to lean English using real life examples that the student will find useful rather than using traditional text books. I also love to use interactive material. I love to get to know my students so they feel the lessons have been designed personally for them.
Q. Could you tell me about the lesson, “What are you looking at?”?: A. All my students love this lesson. I use a set of six photographs that I have taken myself, the student can see the photographs one by one and we work on using descriptive English and learning new adjectives to give a detailed description of the photo. The photographs all have an interesting point to look at and all of my students adore the last photograph I show them. It’s a really fun lesson.
Q. Before we finish, would you like to give our students a message.: A. Never give up, never be afraid to make mistakes and don’t rely on the textbooks too much. When I arrived in France I could only say “Bonjour” and “Merci” I had to learn the language. I only did this by trying, making mistakes and having using interactive and relevant material and to this day I have never used a text book!