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Benedicte

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French born, Parisian at heart, American citizen and educated. I was raised bilingual/bi-cultural between the U.S. and the francophone world: Algeria, Madagascar, and Switzerland. My education is in comparative & French literature (B.A. from Bard College), Middle East languages and cultures (M.A. from Univ of Paris) and anthropology (PhD from Univ of Pennsylvania).
I have always worked with languages, either teaching or translating and interpreting. I love helping people get it right, as a facilitator of communication between two people, or as helping a person attempt to say what they want or need in a language other than their own. Although I am a native speaker of both French and English, I have experienced the pains and gains of learning foreign languages (Arabic, Farsi, Pashto & Urdu), in which I have become proficient. I am familiar with the stumbling blocks, and how to overcome them. The most fun teaching experiences I ever had were coaching an opera singer in French diction, and an American actor to speak English with a French accent for a role.
As a writer (two books and numerous articles), editor, and quality controller for translated documents, I am fully versed in the writing process. I love to shift things around, all in keeping with the expected structure, to make sure it all means exactly what you want it to. My motto is to keep it light, fun, and always find interest.

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Benedicte’s Qualifications

Education & Certification

Undergraduate Degree: Bard College - Bachelors, Creative Writing & French

Graduate Degree: Univ of Pennsylvania - PHD, Anthropology/Middle East Studies

Hobbies

choral religious music, classical music, opera, international spy novels, real estate investing, theater, working out.

Tutoring Subjects

College English

College Essays

Conversational French

English

English Grammar and Syntax

Essay Editing

French

French 1

French 2

French 3

French 4

High School English

Languages

Writing

Q & A

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

A student seeking tutoring knows the area they need help in. They will guide me.

What is your teaching philosophy?

If there's one thing I love about tutoring, it's that each class is catered to personalized interest, inspiration, and confidence-building. It's a magic formula that takes preparation before each class based on individual needs. That's what I do.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

I talk and ask a lot of questions, and ask to see what you are working on and what type of materials you are already working with. I go home and work up a plan based on that information, and off we go.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

A student will become an independent learner if they are provided the skills and confidence to do so. Whether it is speaking a foreign language, or mastering the technique of writing an essay, these are steps to conquering independence and confidence.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

It's my job as a personal tutor to sense when a student is drifting, wavering, or losing interest. I ask adult students to let me know, but with younger learners, I am always looking for cues to change direction, introduce a new angle, or change it up.

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

There are always more ways to skin a cat, so to speak. It's usually a matter of approach, and if one doesn't work, another may. It's not so much that the student is having difficulty learning a skill, as it is my job to adapt and find another approach. It's about finding success for the student-- not for me. My success is in theirs.

How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?

I focus on outlines and note taking. I have students make outlines for everything they read until they begin to visualize outlines. I also teach them to read actively, formulating questions as they read. Interacting with a text increases both interest and comprehension.

What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

My first session tends to be very personal, as I gather information and assess levels, goals and interests. By the second session, I have an agenda based on the student's needs, and we move right into the gut of the matter. I give assignments, and if they are not completed, we just focus on something else for that session.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?

"Make it personal" is my motto. Once I know my student's personal interests, it's easy to integrate them into almost any boring subject. If you are struggling with French, let's talk about that special topic that's dear to you, or let's write about it if essay writing is your stumbling point.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?

The best way to verify that a student fully understands the material, or to prove to them that they do, is to have them explain or demonstrate it to someone else. In language learning, I like to send students to interview a native speaker as an exercise. For writing English, I like to use peer editing.

How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?

A basic learning pattern is to progress and then reach a plateau, and that plateau can lead to a drop in confidence. My strategy at this point is to take a few steps back, rebuild confidence by proving to the student that they are quite capable of the previous steps, and then move on. The confidence issue is usually resolved with this easy step.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?

This is key. Why teach grammar when what is needed is structure and an understanding of genre? This is why I usually spend the first one or two sessions asking a lot of questions, throwing out a few drills or writing exercises. I like to combine what the students thinks they need with what I assess is lacking. Sharing an upfront explanation of a plan helps everyone with the process.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

Oftentimes a student has their own class materials and readings to follow. Coming from an education background, I have my own curriculum, points and exercises when it comes to tutoring effective writing. As to French, I have taken effective techniques from years of teaching to reinforce certain points in a students' program that may be stumbling blocks.

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