Liudmila Kazakova Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Liudmila. Would you introduce yourself briefly to the Cafetalk community?: A. I am a Russian and Spanish teacher. But in my childhood I didn´t plan to become a teacher. It occured suddenly. I studied tourism at the University and then worked about five years in a travel agency. At first, I loved my job but later I started to feel that it didn´t inspire me any more. I wanted to find something new, the job that I would really love to do. And I started to teach. I received a very good feedback from my first students and that thing inspired me to leave my job in tourism and to dedicate all my time for teaching languages. Of course, I had to study a lot in order to be a good teacher.
Q. Originally, you are from Russia, but you have also lived in Spain for a while. Can you tell us a bit about your life in both countries?: A. It´s evident that Russia and Spain are completely different countries. You can see this difference not only in climate, but also in culture, mentality, food, etc. My home town is Moscow and I should say that Moscow is very different from the other Russian cities. The life is very busy in this big city. It seems that people are always in a hurry. Sometimes they can be more unfriendly than people from the other regions of Russia. This could happen not only because of their busy life, but also because of the severe climate (winter lasts from November until April and could be really cold sometimes. We also suffer from the lack of sun). When I moved to Spain for some months, I noticed that people are never in a hurry there, they always smile you and seem to be very friendly. You can see the sun there almost every day. But Spanish people have their own problems, for example the lack of job offers nowadays.
Q. What are you usually up to when you’re not teaching on Cafetalk? Do you have any special hobbies or interests?: A. I think all my life is related to foreign languages and travelling. I have friends from foreign countries and I try to attend all the events dedicated to different languages and cultures. I usually read books, listen songs and watch films in foreign languages. I also have my own Spanish blog where I post the interesting information about Spain and learning languages. I can´t even imagine my life without travelling. At the end of each journey I usually start to plan the next one. I like to learn something from each place I visit and from each person I talk to.
Q. You seem to be an avid language learner yourself. In your opinion, what is the most important thing to keep in mind when studying or teaching a foreign language?: A. The most important thing is to pay more attention to listening to the native speakers and to repeating what you listened to. According to my own experience, when children in Russia learn foreign languages at school, they study a lot of grammar rules, do many exercises at home, but are still unable to speak… Let´s remember how the babies start to learn any language: they don´t study grammar at all, they only listen to what the adults say and repeat their words and phrases. Of course, it´s also important to learn the grammar, but I think, more important is to try to speak even if you still don´t know all grammar rules.
Q. What can students look forward to in your classes that is unique to the way you conduct your lessons?: A. I teach how “to speak” in a foreign language. I offer a great varity of lessons in order to let the students choose any lesson they want (according to their language level, interests and purposes). I want the students to feel comfortable at my lessons and not to be bored. I create programmes for each student depending on the reason of learning a language. It would be better if students could also revise the new information after the class. So, sometimes I give my students some homework.
Q. You offer a variety of classes in both Russian and Spain. Which of your classes is your favourite, and why do you think your students will benefit from taking those classes?: A. I would recommend “Spanish for any level” and “Russian for any level”. These lessons are created according to the international level standarts of both languages. They are good if you want to learn a language seriously. But if you need some kind of intensive course and you don´t have enough time, you can take “Spanish for travelling” and “Russian for travelling”. During these courses you will learn the basic things you need for travelling to a foreign country.
Q. Finally, would you like to leave a message for your current and future students?: A. It is really possible to learn any language if you dedicate enough time to learning and if you love the language you study. Try to speak more, even if you make a lot of mistakes and listen more to native speakers. Good luck and hope you like my lessons!:)