Hello everybody

Hello everybody
I am a private tutor from Moscow, Russia. I mostly work with teenagers and adults, teaching general, business and exam courses. My classroom can be either online or brick-and-mortar, so to speak, but I teach only one-to-one these days. I love teaching Business English and helping my students prepare for exams, as these are the most motivated groups in my experience. I have been at it for about 9 years, so now I am looking for some insights to keep me moving forward and developing as a teacher. It might be too bold of me, but I hope to be inspired both by the course and by my fellow teachers’ experience.
As for the particulars, I am interested in digital tools for teaching, motivating students to do more self-studying and independent work, peculiarities of teaching high-level students and ways of giving better feedback.

P.S. When I am not trying to teach English (better), I am a curious globetrotter instagramming my experiences and an avid language learner trying to relearn German and improve my Italian. I love reading, both fiction (dystopias and sci-fi) and non-fiction (history, specially of the 1930-40s). If I am particularly lucky and have more time, I watch zombie films and series, go to museums and art galleries (modern art and art nouveau are my passions) and try to be an artist myself.

Comments

  1. Anne HendlerNovember 4, 2017 at 6:18 AM

    Nice to meet you, Julia! Our tastes in fiction match. :) I look forward to learning with you in this course!

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  2. Claudie GNovember 4, 2017 at 9:28 AM

    Museums and art galleries - yes, yes. Zombies, umm, not so much... but there is a very interesting exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario from the collection of Guillermo del Toro that made me appreciate the genre a bit more..

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  3. Julia BlinovaNovember 4, 2017 at 10:06 AM

    Anne Hendler Me too. What are your favourites?

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  4. Julia BlinovaNovember 4, 2017 at 10:07 AM

    Claudie G I am intrigued. What is the exhibit?

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  5. Claudie GNovember 4, 2017 at 11:03 AM

    Hope you can open the link....

    Ooohhh...things that go bump in the dark...I was worried about the kids amongst all the images of death and ghouls and freaky stuff. "Dad, this isn't scary" said one kid......

    ago.net - AGO to present first museum retrospective of famed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro in September 2017 | AGO Art Gallery of Ontario

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  6. Julia BlinovaNovember 4, 2017 at 11:05 AM

    Claudie G Thanks for the link. Looks like something I would love :)

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  7. Claudie GNovember 4, 2017 at 11:06 AM

    Anne - favourite art? Museums? Very eclectic...the one I'm looking at and liking at that moment...If I had the money I would buy a da Vinci or a Rembrandt....or a Rothko...

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  8. Anne HendlerNovember 4, 2017 at 4:02 PM

    Ohh Julia Blinova I like Ursula LeGuin, particularly The Dispossessed and a short story called 'The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas', Margaret Atwood, especially 'Handmaid's Tale' but I've never seen the TV series, Lois Lowry - the whole Giver series, The Hunger Games - but just the first book... I read a lot of older stuff many years ago, like 1984 and BNW and We and Erewhon... and some books that I can't remember the names of but the stories stuck with me!

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  9. Anne HendlerNovember 4, 2017 at 4:04 PM

    Claudie G I'm less interested in art than you guys, I guess. It makes me sad to see it hanging on white museum walls. BUT I love the Cloisters in New York (where the Unicorn Tapestries are displayed) and I'm really excited to visit in two weeks Yayoi Kusama's new museum that she designed herself.

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  10. Julia BlinovaNovember 4, 2017 at 11:17 PM

    Anne Hendler 'We' is my favourite of all times! And thank you for the names and titles - there are some I'll definitely look into. What do you think of Vonnegut?

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  11. Anne HendlerNovember 4, 2017 at 11:31 PM

    Julia Blinova Oh, I really liked Cat's Cradle. I don't think I've read anything else by him. What are some of your favorites? I could really refresh my bookshelf!

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  12. Hannah McCullochNovember 5, 2017 at 2:53 AM

    Hi Julia! Lovely to read about your experience and thanks for telling us about your hobbies in your free time. I realised I only spoke about my teaching side! I’m not as knowledgeable about art but I enjoy visiting galleries and museums, travelling and learning languages, too. Currently trying to learn Vietnamese and Welsh but German is an ongoing project, and I’d like to learn Italian as it is spoken in southern Switzerland. Maybe we can help each other :) Enjoy the course.

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  13. Julia BlinovaNovember 5, 2017 at 4:48 AM

    Anne Hendler As I have already mentioned, 'We' is one of my all-time favourites. I am partial to the classics, like '1984', 'Fahrenheit 451', 'The War of the Worlds' to name a few. Well, something that is a bit newer might be 'Making History' by S.Fry and everything by Erlend Loe

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  14. Julia BlinovaNovember 5, 2017 at 4:51 AM

    Hannah McCulloch Nice to meet a fellow language learner. I am all for helping each other. What's your German level? I am a tentative A2

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