Teaching

MFL Teaching Experience

I teach the following languages:

German and Russian: at any level, including GCSE, A Level, and IB Language B Higher Level

Arabic, French and Spanish: beginners and up to CEFR A2, including GCSE and IB Language B Standard Level

I am currently a part-time visiting Arabic teacher at Cheltenham Ladies College, where I have taaught on and off since 2007.

I’ve been teaching languages in one form or another since 1999, but have never gained qualified teacher status (QTS) in the UK. This year I’m finally filling that gap in my professional training. In the school year 2025-2026, I’m doing the school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) through GITEP/Odyssey Teaching School Hub in Gloucestershire, with my PGCE qualification awarded by University of Bristol.

I have taught Arabic, German and Russian to many private pupils since 2007, and have taught Arabic and Russian in various schools across Gloucestershire and Worcestershire (see below for more details). I began my teaching carerer in 1999, when I trained as a TEFL teacher in Barcelona aged 19 before starting my degree at Oxford.

Since 2014, when I began to focus mainly on literary translation, I have delivered creative translation and multilingual creative writing workshops in schools, as well as professional development for language students and early-career linguists.

MFL: Communicative language learning

I was the visiting Arabic coach at Cheltenham Ladies College for 7 years (2007-2014, and again 2023-now); in my time at CLC, I have taught GCSE, iGCSE and A level Arabic, as well as coaching pupils for A level Russian. I’ve also taught Arabic and Russian at The Cotswold School, Prince Henry’s High School Evesham, Bredon Hill Academy and Tewkesbury School.

I’ve taught Arabic to beginners of all ages: over 60 Arabic students since I started tutoring in 2007. Past students of mine have gone on to study Arabic at Edinburgh, Exeter, Oxford and Durham universities.

At AS and A2 level Russian, I taught Russian history (Catherine the Great), film and literature (Chekhov and Tolstoy), producing many of my own resources.

From 2017-2019, I ran Cheltenham Arabic Club, a not-for-profit venture aimed at helping Arabic-speaking refugees gain teaching experience. We ran two series of beginners’ taster sessions, and  held monthly Arabic conversation sessions for intermediate learners.

Creative translation in the classroom

Working mainly with the Stephen Spender Trust, I deliver workshops in schools from KS2 (primary) to KS5 (6th form) which inspire pupils to think differently about translation, and to see it as a creative activity that is accessible even with very limited language knowledge.

These workshops awaken pupils’ curiosity and confidence in their language learning, help them to analyse language use and to make connections between English and other languages they have encountered, empower them to realise that the skills they already possess can be used to decode texts in a language they don’t already know, and (hopefully!) inspire them to explore languages in a different and more creative way to the mainstream MFL curriculum.

I offer translation workshops using comics, picture books, poetry and songs, all aimed at pupils with no prior knowledge, or very little experience, of the language.

Teaching literary translation

I was Arabic tutor at Warwick Translates summer school for literary and creative translation (University of Warwick, from 2019), and at the summer school’s previous iteration, Translate in the City in 2016 (City University, London). I’ve taught workshops at Bristol Translates online summer school: translating children’s literature (2022) and translating graphic novels (2024).

I regularly teach translation workshops focusing on different aspects of the profession, including practical translation taster events for complete beginners, and talks on linguist careers and the business side of freelancing. Please see here for past workshops at a wide range of schools, universities and other institutions.

English as a foreign/second language

Since taking the TESOL certificate in 1999 (awarded by Trinity College London), I have taught English as a foreign language at various private language schools in the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy, at the University of Gloucestershire, and at Oryel University, Russia. I have taught every age and every skill level from A1 entry level to IELTS academic test.

From 2015-2017, I volunteered with Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees and Cheltenham Volunteer Teachers, supporting new arrivals with English-language practice at our regular community events.

Promoting multilingualism and creative language learning

Together with Cate Hamilton, I co-founded Babel Babies, a company promoting early years multilingual education and the creative exploration of foreign languages within the family. I taught multilingual music sessions to parents and carers with babies, toddlers and preschoolers since the company was founded in 2011 until 2015. I led the German, Russian and Arabic teacher training within the company, and ran Babel Babies workshops at events and festivals. Babel Babies was awarded the Muddy Stilettos Award for Best Children’s Company in Gloucestershire, 2019!