Meet our teacher Lena!
We thought it would be nice if you got the chance to get to know our teachers a little bit better. So we sat down with Lena to ask her a few questions. Here we go:
Transmitter: Before joining Transmitter, you were working as a primary school teacher. How does teaching children compare to teaching adults?
Lena: I really like working at eye level with adults. Of course respect is also important when teaching children. But I value the fact that students choose to be in our classes. It results in a really pleasant dynamic. Also, the type of humour and the conversation topics are different, they cover diverse experiences and cultural backgrounds.
Transmitter: You have been working at Transmitter for over a year already. What is your favourite level? What do you enjoy most?
Lena: My favourite levels are B1.1 and B1.2. Here we can already talk about various interesting topics which are also fun.
Transmitter: Are there surprises in teaching? Do you think there are certain points, that are more difficult to learn than you might have thought?
Lena: It did actually surprise me that German has different types of plural forms. And I do feel with our students when we get to this issue early on, making tit hard for them to wrap their heads around it. The complexity of adjective declensions only became apparent to me once I started teaching German.
Modal particles, those tiny words like „eben, halt,wohl“, are also difficult to translate into other languages.
Transmitter: Which are your favourite teaching techniques?
Lena: One fun technique is having students write dialogues together in groups. It unleashes creativity and often results are really funny. This activity enables them to use lots of what they learnt.
I also enjoy team battles (well known to my students). They feel positively challenged and there is a real current of energy in the classroom!
Transmitter: What would you like our students to experience at Transmitter?
I want them to feel at home, well looked after and safe.
Students need to be able to learn at their own pace. Learning must not just be hard and demanding, it has to be fun in a group with a good setting.
Transmitter: Are you currently learning a language yourself?
I am learning Spanish with an app. Sometimes I meet up with Spanish-German tandem groups.
It would also be great to join a Spanish class again and to learn Portugese and Arabic.
Thanks, Lena, for taking the time! We really appreciate it!
