Ainhoa Icigar

I recently graduated from the University of Glasgow with a double degree in English Literature and Film. Moreover, I am a native Spanish speaker, born and raised in Spain. I attended a bilingual school (with a double curriculum) from the ages of 2 to 18 so I am fully fluent in English, having obtained a Certificate of Profiency in English (C2) awarded by the University of Cambridge when I was 17. Having lived in the United Kingdom for the past 6 years, my fluency has only improved and everyone I meet mistakes me for a native American speaker.

Over the summer of my university graduation, I worked at Felsted International Summer School as a Global Studies teacher. I delivered three-hour long lectures on English literature a day and it was a great learning experience for me. I got to teach people from a lot of different backgrounds and discovered how best to interact with each individual student. I make the learning of literature pretty simple and fun. You'll improve your reading comprehension and develop a new appreciation for this underrated subject I am dedicating my whole life too. My biggest goal, apart from my students passing all of their exams, is to get them to take up reading and/writing for fun, because literature is one of the most wonderful things we can share.

After that, I worked as an English tutor for Year 5 children preparing for the ElevenPlus exams. Because of this, I am knowledgeable on the best way to prepare children for this examination as well as what the primary school curriculum entails. Although there wasn’t much creativity to be had in terms of lesson planning, I developed adaptability skills and perfected my time management. I also got the opportunity to grade students’ essays and creative work, which taught me how to mark with objectivity and patience.
Another one of my roles was as a writer of texts meant for reading comprehension. This was especially useful as it gave me the opportunity to put myself in the shoes of my students, see the world through their eyes and try to come up with answers or questions that they might have. Among all of my skills, this is the one I value most; for one to teach effectively, they must understand the psychology of their students.

I also wish to help students with their language learning (English and Spanish) by using literature, movies and songs. This helps bring the language content to a more practical and enjoyable place. You'll also learn some fun facts about films and books you can impress your friends and family with!