Lewis
University of Melbourne
BA Russian Studies
Graduate
DBS
14About Me
Hi! My name’s Lewis, and I’m a teacher, actor and musician. I spent my late teens and early twenties studying, travelling and living abroad to hone my language skills. This began with a stint in France after completing school, and continued with a year-long exchange program in Moscow as part of my BA. I was at the top of the highest-level Russian language class offered by Moscow State University when I left. After my studies, I lived in Berlin for 18 months, where I gained my CELTA qualification and taught English at Sprachinstitut language school. Unusually for a foreigner in Berlin, I conducted almost all of my daily life in German. I am still routinely mistaken for a native speaker four years later. I am working on official certificates for my French and German, but the high level I have has been achieved by reading and the in-country experience of conducting friendships and work relationships in the language. I am also a professional actor. Acting skills benefit my teaching enormously, as they enable me to communicate effectively, and accurately determine the needs of my students. The close textual analysis that actors do is also very helpful in the study of English literature and philosophy, in which I had success both in school and in university. In my spare time I write and direct films, and play guitar in various projects.
My teaching style
My teaching style is always focused on the needs of the student. I am very happy to adapt and improvise, as I understand that, especially with languages, different students are challenged by different areas of the subject. Sometimes all it takes to unlock a particular grammar point is a different kind of explanation. For a student to begin speaking freely, the teacher must establish a safe, supportive environment. I believe firmly in error correction, but it must be at the right time, and with the right frequency. My experience is that most students write better than they speak, so I am very prepared to offer conversation-based support. I also like to focus on the phonetic aspect of languages, as I find that speaking with a convincing accent is often overlooked in schools. Languages are, in a sense, a performance. When I teach literature or philosophy, I believe the most useful approach is to delve deep into the relevant texts through discussion, placing emphasis on close analysis.
My past experience
I taught English to adults at Sprachinstitut in Berlin, with levels ranging from A2 to IELTS preparation. I also tutored English literature, philosophy and French when I was a student in Australia.
My Proudest Achievements
I was lucky enough to be on a boat in Norway last year, and a large group of Ukrainian refugees got on. They could speak Russian and Ukrainian only, so had great difficulty making themselves understood to the Norwegian staff. I was able to interpret between Russian and English, and help them not only communicate, but feel seen and taken care of. I’ve interpreted on some other occasions as well, and helping to bridge that kind of communicative gap is one of the best feelings I know.
Being mistaken for a native German speaker on many occasions, as well as being told my French is ‘native’ and my Russian ‘perfect’ (I definitely don’t mentally catalogue these moments) also belong on this list. Learning a language is hard work, but the rewards are expansive.
I teach
- IELTS
- English Literature
- English
- Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar
- Reading
- Phonics
- French
- German
- Russian
- Philosophy
- English as a Foreign Language
- English Language
- English Skills
- English Learning
My Results and Achievements
- Top 0.5% (99.5) ATAR
- lived in Germany
- lived in France
- lived in Russia
- BA Russian Studies
- MFA Acting
- highest score in my year (Russian)
- highest score in my year (French and German)
- offer from ANU