Retiring after 15 years working with Living Learning English - Lesley's Story

Has it really been that long? They say time flies when you are having fun, and that is certainly true of my time teaching and hosting with Living Learning English!

It has been a privilege and a joy to welcome so many students, to get to know them as individuals and help them achieve their learning goals. As a language graduate myself, I know how hard it is to learn a foreign language. Teaching homestay courses has given me the chance to use a more holistic approach to teaching English, sharing our culture, inspiring and encouraging students, building their confidence - and having fun! My husband and I even went on a homestay course with Living Learning Spanish a few years ago, in Seville. It was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it! So interesting to see a course from the student's point of view - and to discover how challenging it is to be totally immersed in another language!

Teaching a homestay course gives you the freedom to be flexible, to create a tailor-made course for each student, to discover their interests, goals, learning style and language needs and focus on those. Every student is an individual and no two courses are the same. Each course is fresh and new. Not only is that better for the student, it's also much more stimulating and rewarding for the teacher. Teaching in your own home can also work well for the whole family. Thanks to our overseas visitors, we and our children have made new friends and learned so much about other cultures.

If you want to feel appreciated in your work, teach homestay courses! Students are so positive about their experiences - the lessons, the excursions and the family. Some are even complimentary about English cuisine!

And if you want to feel appreciated and supported in your work, teach with LLE! The support I have had from the team throughout my 15 years has been excellent. Nothing was too much trouble. My experience has been that whatever you are struggling with, someone will help - and fast - leaving you free to get on with hosting and teaching. LLE cares for their teachers in many other ways, providing opportunities for Continued Professional Development, excellent feedback on observed lessons and pastoral care when illness or life events intrude.

However, it's not just students who have learned new things, developed and gained confidence whilst having a lot of fun. So has their teacher!

A big 'thank you' to all my students, my fellow teachers and to the team at LLE for a wonderful 15 years!

With warm wishes,

Lesley