We are pleased to announce that we have a new member in our Marketing department. Her name is Marianna and she is a native Russian speaker.
Please tell us about your work experience…
“I have worked as a teacher for 5 years now and find it very exciting and rewarding. I started teaching when I was 22, and I remember being very nervous just before giving my first lesson. However, deep down I knew it would go well and that I was going to enjoy it. So, since then, it has been my profession. However, teaching can be very challenging at times. There are students in the classroom with different backgrounds and personalities, so one of the teacher’s priorities is to explore their personalities and try to match them in a way that will help with the teaching and learning process.
However, despite all the challenges and issues that may occur during lessons, teaching is a very exciting profession which I am passionate about.”
How are the lessons at Cavendish School?
“First of all, I would like to say, Cavendish School is different from any other school I have worked in. It is all about the environment of the school which has a very friendly atmosphere, lovely and conscientious members of staff, and great students! I have taught at Cavendish for almost two years now, and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Here, unlike any other school, the teachers have an opportunity to use their unique teaching techniques to achieve academic aims and objectives. In other words, the lessons are not “dry” and overloaded with too many exercises; on the contrary, the students actually have fun learning new things and enjoy themselves during the lessons.
Most teachers have a creative approach to planning and giving lessons which helps students to fully reveal their personalities and explore their potential through specially created exercises, group activities, team and individual projects etc. It is a great opportunity for both, teacher and student, to get to know each other much better, to express themselves, and build new relationships and make the teaching/learning process more exciting and efficient.
Bringing creativity into a lesson is a rather controversial topic for many teachers, as well as Directors of Studies, as they believe that it might not be useful and time consuming. However, based on my experience of working with juniors and adults in different schools in Russia and the UK, creativity and flexibility towards fulfilling academic requirements is an essential part of any educational process. It is up to a teacher to make that decision to bring that creative note into a teaching process and make it work. It is, however, not an easy aim to achieve. It requires putting a lot of effort in and being able to think ‘outside-of-the-box’. I believe it is a vital part of interacting with students.
This is what we, as teachers and students, are lucky to get at Cavendish… a unique opportunity to make lessons interesting and exciting for students using unique teaching techniques and styles.
What made you decide to study English?
“The choice of my future career was made, believe it or not, when I was 9 years old. It was after my first ever English language lesson at school when I came back home and announced it to my parents loud and proud that I knew what I was going to do with my life after I finished school. My parents, of course, did not take me seriously.
However, in just a few years, seeing that I was not even thinking about changing my mind, they finally started to believe me.
Learning foreign languages is fascinating. One of the reasons why I decided to do it is because through a language you learn the history of the country as well as some cultural peculiarities. English, being the most popular language in the world, always fascinated me in terms of its phonetics, grammatical structure, and lexicology. As a linguist, I was also learning the history of some other languages that were not as popular as English. After 5 years of studying English at University, I decided to focus on the comparison of some grammar structures in English and two other languages. The findings of my research were described later in my dissertation work that encouraged me to continue my research and come over to England to do my Master’s Degree. Looking back, I realise that studying English and coming to the UK to complete my Degree was the right decision, and most importantly, it always felt right.”
What made you change your position from teacher to marketing executive?
“The main reason to move from academic department to marketing was mainly because of the challenge of the new position. There are many new things to learn for me, and, as we all know, through learning and studying we develop.
Moreover, I am still able to use my knowledge in teaching and insight into how the academic department functions when dealing with the agents and promoting the school. Also, I will be able to use my mother tongue while interacting with Russian speaking agents and students.
Another reason of taking this position is interest in marketing in general, which has become extremely popular over the past decade. Thus, I am looking forward to new challenges that this position has for me. And also, I am happy to work with the lovely Cavendish marketing team, which is very friendly and supportive.”
From an academic point of view, how would you promote our school?
“As I have already mentioned, Cavendish is very different from any other school I have worked in. We have a very strong and highly qualified team of teachers here. All the teachers are committed and give 100% to make sure that the students are happy and enjoying themselves. Our DoS team is very strong, and strive to meet the highest standards in education. Thus, I would certainly recommend Cavendish School to adults and juniors as a place to improve their English and get that valuable and ‘new culture’ experience.”
What do you think about Bournemouth as a place to live?
“Bournemouth is a lovely spot; I’d say I fell in love with it straight away. After finishing my degree at Bournemouth University, I had the option to move to London, Birmingham or Bristol. However, I did not feel like leaving Bournemouth because of its lovely atmosphere, nice climate, amazing scenery and friendly people. I like small towns because I grew up in a town myself, where people seem to be much friendlier than in bigger cities. Another reason for me to stay here is that Bournemouth offers good entertainment options as well as an opportunity to do water sports which I am planning to do in the near future.”
