Viola - English tutor - London

One of our best tutors. Quality profile, experience in their field, verified qualifications and a great response time. Viola will be happy to arrange your first English lesson.

Viola

One of our best tutors. Quality profile, experience in their field, verified qualifications and a great response time. Viola will be happy to arrange your first English lesson.

  • Hourly rate £80
  • Response Time 17h
  • Number of students 50+
Viola - English tutor - London
  • 4.9 (18 reviews)

£80/hr

Contact
  • English
  • English Literature
  • Creative writing
  • 11 plus
  • School Entrance Exams

Fun, engaging and dedicated tutor with over 15yrs experience - English, History, Italian, Theatre Studies tutor with Viola

Lesson location

    • Online
    • at your home or in a public place : will travel up to 50 km from London

Ambassador

One of our best tutors. Quality profile, experience in their field, verified qualifications and a great response time. Viola will be happy to arrange your first English lesson.

About Viola

*Currently also taking on GCSE and A Level students* Please do not hesitate to send me a message for further information or availability enquiries.

I have been tutoring for over fifteen years and absolutely love it! Each student is unique and I work with them to understand their individual needs; leading to better academic results, but also to increased confidence and greater enjoyment of the subject.

My main subjects are Drama, Italian and English Literature & Language including creative writing, comprehension, essay writing skills, literary analysis and verbal expression. I have tutored students through A Level, AS, GCSE, entrance exams, 11+ and 13+ and have worked with a number of students for whom English is not a first language.

Being bilingual, I feel I really understand students brought up with more than one language. I have experience tutoring all subjects up to 13+ but keep to my speciality subjects for anything more advanced.

Continue reading (below) to find out a bit about my interests and who I am. There is also a link to a short video in which I introduce myself and feel free to contact me if you would like to ask any questions or for further information. If the available hours on my profile do not suit your required times please do get in touch anyway as they are often just an indication of my availability.

Acting: I am a professional actress. Having enjoyed the wonderful rep-like benefits of Student Theatre in Durham (where I acted in up to four plays a term) I then trained at Drama Studio London. I have theatre and film experience and have toured the UK, Italy and Greece with productions including Pride and Prejudice, Chekhov Shorts and Private Lives. Shakespeare is a passion of mine, both on the page and on the stage.


Languages: I am half Italian and fully bi-lingual and bi-cultural. I speak a good level of conversational French and basic Spanish. Having grown up in a bi-lingual household and lived half of my childhood in Italy I understand the great benefits, but also the challenges, that bi-lingual children can face and have spent a great deal of time working with children for whom English is a second (or third or fourth) language. I have worked as an interpreter, translator and ethnographer (Italian/English).

Sports: I enjoy horse-riding and most mountain activities, especially hiking (spent half my childhood in the Italian Alps). I can ice-skate and at Durham I played football for my college; Castle. Rugby is my watching sport of choice.

Other interests: Coming from a family of writers and artists it seems only fitting that I should have a great passion for both literature and art. I love to bury myself in books and, having been mercilessly dragged round art galleries as a child, I now take myself and my children to art galleries and exhibitions as a regular treat. Although I do write, my artistic ability is currently limited to photography. I am also very interested in History with a particular fascination for WW2 espionage, the Renaissance and the Reformation. I have traveled extensively and love exploring.

I currently live in Hackney, London with my English Teacher husband, two small children and our dog.

University :
- University of Durham - English Literature [2:1]

School :
Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge
A Levels
- English Literature [A]
- English Language [A]
- Italian [A]
- History [B]
- Drama [A]

Prizes and Scholarships :
* Scholarship to the Mackenzie School of Speech & Drama from the age of 11 until the age of 18; passed all my LAMDA exams getting Distinction or Honours in all grades up to Gold Medallion. *


Other Qualifications :
Postgraduate Acting Diploma from Drama Studio London

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About the lesson

  • All Levels
  • English

All languages in which the lesson is available :

English

Each student is different, and the joy of tutoring (as opposed to class or group teaching) is that I can adapt my lesson and teaching style to suit individual needs, as I have done with hundreds of students over the last ten years. I will start by gauging what my student feels they need help with and what they see as their strengths and weaknesses, whilst also making my own assessment. Then, together, we can come up with a plan.

The most vital element of a successful tutoring partnership is that we get on and are able to not only work together, but also develop a strong bond of trust. Finding the right tutor for you or your child is crucial for success.

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Rates

Hourly rate

  • £80

Pack prices

  • 5h: £385
  • 10h: £750

online

  • £75/h

Viola's Video

Find out more about Viola

Find out more about Viola

  • When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

    I teach subjects I love. There are many I did not enjoy at school, but English, History and Drama have always sparked joy in me and I believe I am good at teaching them because of this.

    Literature (English and others) became a passion when I first started to read. Although a reluctant learner at first, I quickly became a complete bookworm. With a love of reading came a love of writing. So much so that I eventually went on to take my degree in English Literature at Durham University.

    Drama: I first fell in love with acting when I was six years old. I went on a drama course one half term, and vividly remember the explosive joy as I got to perform on stage with the other kids in our end-of-the-week show. It was pure bliss. I have been hopelessly smitten ever since.

    History: my father is a historian and I think he imbued a love, interest and respect for the importance of knowing and understanding the past without my even realising it. I became aware of this love being useful academically when studying the Renaissance and the Reformation in A-Level history.

    As for tutoring, I worked as an au pair and tutor for a lovely family in Italy over the summers when at University. After University, I trained as an actress in London and started tutoring whilst auditioning and trying to make ends meet. Tutoring was by far the most rewarding and enjoyable 'resting' job, which eventually became my main job. The satisfaction and exhilaration I get from seeing students grow in confidence, ability and enjoyment of these subjects they often hated is absolutely what spurs me on. I love the variety within this job.
  • Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

    I teach English at all levels, History, Italian and Theatre Studies.

    I get most excited about Literature, especially Shakespeare (I know, but honestly, you will grow to love him too), I am half-Italian and fully bilingual, which is why I tutor Italian and History and Theatre Studies are my other two passions.

    I do teach verbal and non-verbal for entrance exams as well as comprehension and creative writing. Unlocking the creativity within my students is wonderful. Ticking boxes for exams can be frustrating and demoralising, so seeing them light up as they start to enjoy the writing or learning process and understand that they hold the key to writing beautifully or analysing effectively is one of my favourite things.
  • Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

    I had two teachers who saved me at school. I was by no means a model student and could easily have dropped off the school radar had it not been for the brilliant and funny Mr Durran, who started teaching me English in year 10 for GCSE. He was inspirational and entertaining, and perhaps more importantly, saw my academic ability was being swallowed up by my inability to hand homework in on time. I was disorganised, often panicked and had been made to feel useless by previous, probably frustrated, teachers. He encouraged and believed in me and it is because of him that I went on to study English at A Level and University. Mrs Scott, who taught me A-Level English, was another wonderful teacher. Anyone who can teach Mansfield Park (Jane Austen's least popular novel) and make it not only enjoyable but actually make me respect and like the outwardly wet and boring protagonist, Fanny Price, is priceless.

    My parents also taught me more about history, art, literature, films, languages and more than I think I ever learnt at school.
  • What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

    An ability to adapt and improvise is useful. There is no one surefire way to teach a student, as each student is different. Communication is also key and an ability to understand the individual. I believe my background as an actress is helpful as we are storytellers and can (hopefully!) hold interest and help students focus. As tutors, we have to build a relationship of trust and empathy. I often tell students that I am on their side, here to help them. If something I am explaining isn't clear, they can tell me and I will find a way to make it make sense. The wonderful thing about tutoring is that one-to-one focus which means I will reshape things for you until you get it. While subject knowledge is obviously vital, mentoring and emotionally supporting students is just as important. Ironically, I truly believe that one of the things that makes me a good tutor is the fact that I sometimes struggled at school and was not a model student.
  • Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

    A History GCSE student exclaimed one day: "Oh! I get it now. You're not teaching me what to think, you're teaching me how to think!"

    An 11-plus student, who had been terrified of writing and truly resistant to begin with, got to the point where he not only enjoyed the process but came up with stunning images like:

    "the sunset merged into the horizon like blood oozing out of a wound".

    An English GCSE student, who had been studying Pride and Prejudice at school all year, after one lesson with me joyfully exclaimed - "I thought Pride and Prejudice was boring. I didn't realise it was so funny, and Lizzie Bennet is awesome."
  • What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?

    When I was a student I was terrible at organisation, fell behind and often panicked, but I thrived under exam pressure in the subjects I loved. This meant I had to teach myself these organisational skills in a very deliberate way and find ways of making myself stick to them. Many of my students, however, find the idea of exams stressful and far more challenging than handing in homework. Perhaps it is the fact that I think extremely well under pressure and can show them how to plan (vital!), analyse and write excellent essays using their independent thought, rather than purely relying on pre-learnt information that helps them so much.

    Now that I am a tutor my main challenge is also one of the most enjoyable elements of the work - finding the right way to hook each new student in, not only to the texts we are studying, but into a lifelong love of language.
  • Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

    Tutoring really is a passion - the variety, connection and reward.

    Also, close reading analysis of Shakespeare, the depth and subtlety of meaning gets me very excited.

    Live theatre, travel, trees, mountains…the list goes on ;)
  • What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions :-P) ?

    Fifteen years of tutoring experience. The school entrance exams, GCSE and A-Level results of students, all with different needs and challenges. The happiness, confidence and emotional wellbeing of students who were stressed, sad and struggling.
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