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Good morning from sunny Madrid! I did a crazy thing back in June and decided to buy tickets to come to Madrid for a long weekend, right smack dab in the middle of all the back-to-school organization, but hey, lucky for me I can take my computer with me anywhere right? I’m here visiting all my super friends, my sister (who followed me to Madrid but then met Alex the human (not Alex the dog) and stayed in Spain) and randomly enough, my dad, who’s popped in for a quick visit on his way back to the US after his summer stay in Scotland with my brother. Oh, yes, we are a bit of a crazy family but it’s beautiful! How did all three of us siblings end up in Europe you might ask? Thanks to my awesome parents who said, “Get out of the USA, travel around a bit and if you want, you can come back.” Long story short, we never went back. Why am I telling you this? I’m telling you this because speaking another language opens so many doors that we don’t even consider before actually opening them. I have an entire “friend family” in Madrid thanks to my ability to communicate in Spanish. My sister is now also bilingual and we can use Spanish to speak in code around the rest of our family when necessary😈. She works for a super prestigious international university that she wouldn’t be able to work for if she wasn’t bilingual. I ended up in Italy because my husband’s company in Madrid needed someone who could speak Italian to open up the Italian market, and so off to Rome we went! Speaking languages offers so so so many opportunities for PERSONAL growth, as well as professional, and this is what I want for your child as well. To have the CHOICE to go, see the world, meet all kinds of cool people and have all kinds of awesome experiences, and then be able to DECIDE if they want to return to Italy or not. Being able to choose is such a beautiful thing. Your child can’t choose everything for themselves right now, which is where you, super parent, come to the rescue. You can choose to give them the opportunity start speaking English, right here, right now. You can choose to help them develop the right attitude towards learning languages so that when they grow up, they can choose from so many opportunities that they wouldn’t be able to do if they didn’t speak English (or any other second language for that matter). It took me quite a while to feel comfortable speaking Spanish. I was, after all, 18 when I moved to Madrid, so even though I was “immersed” in the language (except for the fact that all my friends were bilingual…), it took me a few years to feel comfortable speaking in all situations. And now my friends make fun of me because I speak Spanish with an Italian accent and forget words and essentially just make a mess. Ohhh the trials and tribulations of being multilingual, haha! Your child is already way ahead of me, because they already study English at school from when they’re tiny tots, and they have you as a parent, who is actively looking for ways to give them as many opportunities as possible to practice it. What could they be capable of after 8 months of practicing their speaking skills in a fun, relaxed, kid friendly environment? What could they be comfortable doing in English? I’m not going to tell you they will have a “CEFR Level” like A1. I’m not going to tell you they will, “Get a 10 in English at school” (although that might be a pleasant consequence 😉). But I will tell you that they won’t be afraid of English anymore. They won’t hate English anymore. They won’t think, “I can’t speak English” or “I don’t understand English” anymore. Kids are sponges. Their brains are programmed to learn as much as they can in as short of a time possible. If I had jumped off that plane in Madrid when I was 8 instead of 18, I would have been completely bilingual in 6 months. Instead, it took me quite a few years to get to that point. Your child lives in Italy, so of course, most of their life is in Italian, and that’s fine!!! The few extra hours they spend learning now are equivalent to years spent learning as an adult. So, if you want to give your child an extra English boost, just click this link to sign up for a discovery call with me to see if I’m the right person to help your child get from A to B (or maybe even C, D or F) on their English learning journey. Click this link to see all the details about my group courses for the school year, and as always, if you hate calls, you can always respond to this mail with your questions first, and save the call for later.

Dear parent, school starts this week!!! How are you feeling about school starting again? Over the moon? A bit nervous? Worried? Relieved? School starting up again can cause lots of mixed emotions, not just for kids, but also for parents. There are so many things to think about, like getting school supplies, buying books, sorting out your child’s busy schedule, as well as of course your job, putting food on the table and trying to have some time to yourself as well. I was having a chat with a friend on Friday afternoon, and for both of us as teachers, September is also pretty crazy, and since we’re both millennials, this song by Green Day popped into our head at the same time…hahaha! Do you know who Green Day is? A bit of 90’s USA pop (punk-emo) culture for you today. It's a super emo song talking about wanting the month of September to be over. I know you probably feel the same way ahaha! Anyways, I want to keep today’s email short and sweet because I know you’re busy, and to be completely honest with you, my brain is so so tired after last week’s Back to School English Challenge (which was so much fun, thank you to everyone who participated, live and not!). I just want to remind you that you’re a super parent, and let you know that I’m not accepting sign ups for my small group courses for kids aged 5-12. They’ll officially start in October, and are all kinds of fun. Check out all the details here if you want to know more! Wake me up when September ends….

Dear parent. I absolutely must tell you this story. Trust me, it will cheer you up, maybe even make you smile. I say cheer you up because for many of you, this week is probably the first week back to work, and it’s never easy, even if you love your job! Not to mention that your kids are still at home…Don’t worry, school starts in 2 weeks! Anyways, on with my story. The other day, I was in a lesson with MV. He’s been working with me since the first grade, and now he’s going into middle school! He came to the lesson and said, “Claire, I didn’t do my homework, but I have a story to tell you”. This is music to my ears. This is what I want from my students – that they tell me stories. That they want to talk to me. MV went on to tell me that the day before, his little brother L, who I also teach, had to go to the hospital because he had been bitten by a spider! Not a violin spider, thankfully, but a scary spider nonetheless. Thankfully, everything was fine, L didn’t grow a third arm or turn into Spiderman or anything like that, but this story allowed me to ask questions to MV like, “Were you scared?”, “What are you scared of?”, “How is L today?”. This type of interaction between me and my students allows them to experience real life conversations. For as simple or as complex as the student’s vocabulary is. No conversation is “too simple”. This is, in fact, why we learn a second language, isn’t it? To be able to have conversations. To be able to interact with people. Today my students interact with me in English. Tomorrow they’ll interact with their teachers and peers at school. In a few years, they’ll interact with people when travelling, studying and working. Everything has to start somewhere. If you want your child to get to the point where they feel comfortable interacting with people in English, it’s never too soon to start! You can expose them to English at home through videos, stories and games (check out this blog post for tips on how!). And if you want to take it one step further, you can give them the opportunity to interact in English by signing them up for extra lessons or English activities. Every little thing that they can do in English today will help them feel more comfortable at school, and in the future, at work and beyond. Over the next 2 weeks I’ll be holding some Q&A sessions for parents, regarding English for kids in general, as well as giving you a hands-on experience of what it’s like to learn English with me. Even if you already have a plan for your child’s English learning this year, you can still come and pick my brain, ask for suggestions and talk about your doubts and fears with me and other parents who share the same goal as you – to provide the best education for your child possible. Click this link to save your spot in the time slot that works best for you. You can also submit your questions before the session so that I make sure to have the best answer for you, just respond to this mail with your question and I’ll answer it! As always, remember, you can put your name on this list here to be the first to receive the information for my upcoming school year courses, no strings attached!

The other day, my business mentor (yes, even teachers need teachers) asked me, “Claire, why did you decide to work with kids?” She wasn’t asking me for the flippant, “It’s what I studied” response. She wanted me to do a bit of auto – psychology, dig deeper, and find a real answer. I thought I would share that answer with you as well, dear parent! I started “working” with kids when I was 9. I had a summer babysitting job that helped me to pay for my first riding jacket for my first horse riding competition (don’t worry 2024 parent, it was totally normal in the USA in the 90’s for kids to babysit, pet sit, etc. even at such a young age). When I moved to Spain at 18, it only seemed natural to continue doing so, the only difference was that I did it with kids that didn’t speak English. To be honest, up until this point in my life, babysitting was just a means to make extra cash. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but I didn’t want to be just a babysitter for the rest of my life. I juggled restaurant and babysitting/teaching jobs all through university, and also afterwards. Then I got my first real teaching job in a school. It was only there that I realized that there was something about working with kids that just clicked with me. I’ll be honest, that first year teaching 25 5-, 6- and 7-year-olds was not easy. I didn’t have a curriculum to follow, I had to come up with my own resources, games, activities, etc. etc. I showed up to school an hour early and left an hour later every day so that I had time to prepare my lessons. I cried sometimes when I got home because I thought I was doing an awful job. I thought I would quit at the end of the first year and go back to bartending. But do you know what? I stuck through that first year, and then decided that instead of quitting, I wanted to go back to university to get my teaching degree so that I could make teaching kids my career. And now, my lessons and the time I get to spend with my students is the best part of my day. I don’t love marketing, I don’t love finance, I don’t love complicated tech. But I do it all because it allows me to work with my perfect students – kids. I still haven’t answered the question of WHY I decided to work 100% with kids though. When I started my own online teaching business, I also taught adults, but I made the conscious decision to focus my energy 110% on teaching kids because it’s what I do best. It’s where I’m in my element. It’s where I feel comfortable, safe, at ease. I like talking to kids, and they like talking to me. I understand them, and that in turn makes them feel safe. I love their gust to learn new things. I love their excitement about life, their dreams about their future. I love their creativity. They help me to be my most creative self. They have such big imaginations. And my mission is to help them use that imagination to dream big dreams for themselves. They laugh, they smile. When they are sad or upset, I’ve got quite a few tricks up my sleeve to turn their frown upside down. They don’t worry about making mistakes. They don’t worry about being perfect. They remind me that we aren’t perfect and nobody should expect us to be. They don’t lie. If they don’t like something, the tell me. If they love something, they tell me. They have fun. They tell stories, and love reading or watching stories. They are open minded. They see the world in the purest way possible. Their energy is contagious, and their smiles are what make every second of this business journey of mine worth it. This is why, dear parent, I teach kids. This is why I have big dreams for my future. If you stick around long enough, you might just see some of those dreams come true, and along the way, maybe I can help your child achieve some of theirs. If you’re curious to know how, remember that you can always sign up for a coffee chat with me to ask me questions about your child’s English learning, as well as learn how they can work with me. If you’re considering the possibility of having your child work with me this school year, go ahead and put your name and email on this list, and you’ll be the first to hear about my 2024-2025 courses!

Well good morning! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that most of my recent content has been about my garden, or Alex the Dog. It’s August, it’s hot, and even me, work-a-holic Teacher Claire is taking things a bit slower and enjoying living life a bit slower. I didn’t always have a garden though. Until just 3 years ago, I was the biggest city slicker and every plant I had ever had in my house or on my balcony died. No exceptions. Except the highlander basil that I didn’t even plant on my terrace in Rome…anyways, I only discovered my love for gardening and all things plants when I moved out of the city to my little mountain home. My mom says I used to grow carrots and chives in the backyard as a kid, but I don’t remember much of that, I probably just helped her pick and eat them while she did all the hard work haha! My little garden has become my peaceful place, free of all things technology, where I can think, observe and most of all, learn. I want to share something with you today that I’ve only told to a handful of people because I come from the generation of, “Blow out the candle, make a wish, AND DON’T TELL ANYONE, or it won’t come true”. Maybe what I’m about to share with you will come true, maybe it won’t, but I bet it won’t be because I told you ahaha, what a silly superstition. So here goes. I love teaching kids in English. I love watching them grow and improve. I love creating lasting relationships with them and their families. I love helping them find their feet, become confident in themselves, and then watching them use their English in real life situations, be it for travel, school or even work. I also love being outside in my garden. I love watching the seedlings I plant grow into beautiful plants. Maybe it sounds funny, but sometimes it’s almost sad to harvest and eat them! I do my best to protect them from slugs and deer, and try to keep them watered, warm and happy. One day, I want a space where I can combine my love of teaching kids and my love of all things flora and fauna. I want a place where I can teach kids where their food comes from (of course in English!), a place where they can get in contact with nature, get their hands dirty, and learn how to do all the things I wish I had learned as a child, not as a 30-year-old city kid. I want a place where I can invite not only my students, but their families, to come and get some fresh air when they need an escape from life and work. Does that sound crazy? Does it sound like a place you’d send your kid to learn after school or in the summer? I’m sure it’s not something that everyone would like, but I’m also sure that there are quite a few people out there who would love the chance to connect a bit more with nature. Which type of person are you? Thanks for letting me share that with you. I hope you’re enjoying a bit less screen time and a bit more you time, doing whatever it is that keeps a smile on your face.

First of all, thanks for opening this email, it’s August 12th, and I hope you’re on holiday, so the fact that you’ve taken a minute out of your free time to read me means a lot! Knowing that you probably have lots of other fun things to be doing right now (and if you’re working this week, that means you have tons of other things, maybe not so fun, to be doing anyways), today’s newsletter will absolutely be short and sweet. I just want to tell you a quick little story, a quick heart to heart if you will. Last Monday was one of those days. A terrible, horrible, no good very bad day. I opened Zoom for my first afternoon lesson with C, a bubbly, joyful super fun 9-year-old. Her camera connected, but she wasn’t yet at the computer (she was running around in the background, looking for a shirt), and when she realized that I was there waiting for her, she bounded (not ran, bounded) over to the computer and gave me the biggest, most genuine, beautiful smile as she connected her audio and said, “Hi Claire!”. Needless to say, all the negative things on my mind completely disappeared. We then went on to watch Dragons Love Tacos, shared some laughs, and that was that! The simplest of gestures from one of my students was enough to completely change my mood, and I don’t ever want to forget that smile. I want to make sure that I’m doing everything in my power to make sure that my students come to my lessons with that smile, and if the tables are turned and they’re having a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day, I want to be there to help them forget their woes, just like they do for me, even when they don’t realize it. What’s one thing that’s guaranteed to get you smiling, even on the most horrible of days? Hit reply and let me know, I’d love to hear from you.

OMG it's August...! It was Christmas...yesterday...🤯 As the curious child that I am, I would love to know what you have planned for this month! In case you were wondering, I'm staying home this year, but that's okay with me! I live in the mountains, so I don't have to escape the heat, and my little vegetable garden will keep me very busy! Before I leave you and go pick more zucchini (they never end😅), I just wanted to tell you that even though September seems ages away, I'm already thinking about the new school year, as the organized teacher that I am! I'm guessing you're not thinking about the new school year at all, but just in case, if you're even a little curious@ to get some more information about my 2024-2025 courses for kids and teens, I invite you to put your name on this list. It is a no-strings-attached list to save your child's place in the event that you decide to have him/her study with me! September can be a time full of requests and spots fill up quickly! I will still be peeping into your inbox in August with whatever fun things are on my mind, but now, go! it's time to start preparing for the vacations! And remember, if you need something easy, fun but also educational to keep your child occupied while traveling, you can still pick up your copy of Moppy's Summer Holidays printable!

Do you ever wonder why you do things the way you do? Maybe I’m just getting older, but lately I’ve been reflecting on my actions and choices in life, and I must say, many (or perhaps most) of the choices I’ve made as an adult stem from my childhood experiences. In a subconscious way, you could say, but it just goes to show how much a child’s experiences actually influence their adult life! Let me give you a few examples of my own, we can take a quick trip down memory lane together so you can get to know me a bit better! -I am the absolute queen of moving house, changing cities and changing countries. Sometimes I just want to stay in one place and chill out, but then when the opportunity arises to change and go somewhere new, well, I forget about wanting to chill and just go. This has a bucketload of pros, as well as some cons, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just in my nature. And guess what? As a child, we moved house (and city, and state) more or less every 4 or 5 years due to my dad’s job… -As a kid, I lived, breathed and dreamed horses. I was obsessed. Once my parents agreed to let me start taking riding lessons, that was the end (for them anyways). When I wasn’t at the stable riding, helping out or just watching the pros ride, I was reading horse books, drawing horses, dreaming about horses, getting a horse tattoo…anyways. I remember one instructor that I had – Christina – who became my absolute idol. She must have been my age now (of course to my child self she seemed “old”), and I thought she was so freaking cool. She was tall, thin and gorgeous, wore only jeans and t-shirts, and drove the coolest little white antique BMW. Fast forward 25 years – Teacher Claire still loves horses, only wears jeans and t-shirts, and drives the coolest little white antique ’98 Fiat Panda Van… -I chose to study Spanish in high school, and I will never forget my 2 polar opposite Spanish teachers. They were both crazy, one because I think she had left half of her brain and her heart in Colombia on her travels, if you know what I mean, and the other was a little Greek woman who didn’t teach us Spanish at all, but I remember loving her classes because they were fun – we laughed, we joked, we acted out silly plays in Spanish (having no clue what we were saying), and listened to her stories of her world travels. -Although I grew up in the USA, I never really felt like I identified 100% with being American. My dad is from the UK, so I’ve always had two passports. We never travelled around the USA, we always went to England or Scotland to visit my family there. My mom is half Polish, and also lived in the UK with my dad for many years before moving back to the USA. We almost moved to Switzerland for my dad’s job when I was 12 (oh how I wish we would have, though 12-year-old Teacher Claire was not happy about that at the time), and my dad was always on business trips in Europe. Low and behold, I didn’t think twice when I had the opportunity to move to Europe and ditch my American identity…and here I am today, Teacher Claire, on a mission to show kids that there is a big big world out there, and that speaking languages can help them explore it. Do you see where I’m going with this? Kids absorb so much of what’s going on around them, for both good and bad, and this influences their adult choices in so many ways. What’s the point of my ramble today? To tell you that the only thing that really matters when it comes to getting kids and teens to learn English is this: they must have a positive memory of it. That doesn’t mean they must never have challenges in it, or never have problems with it. That doesn’t mean they need to get perfect 10’s on all their English tests at school, or remember every last vocabulary word when talking to their teacher or classmates. It just means that at some point on their English learning journey, they need someone or something that makes it into their brain’s subconscious positive memory box. So, dear parent, I have a challenge for you for the month of August. Perhaps you’re traveling to a different country, where you might need to use English? Perhaps you’ll have interactions with tourists in Italy, and you’ll need to help them out in English? Perhaps you’ll meet a friend who tells you about their travels to another country? Whatever the case, my challenge to you is this: involve your kids. Show your kids that even knowing just a few words in English can be useful in some situations. Or at very least, show them that you are interested in English, not because it’s important to get good grades at school and finish all their summer homework. Show them (even if it’s not true), that you’re interested in English just for the sake of being interested in English. Trust me – even if it seems like they don’t care about anything they’re seeing or hearing, you’re giving them an opportunity to put that memory into their memory box, and they just might find it useful in the future! If you don’t have a clue about where to start, you can always introduce them to Moppy the Monster! I’ve created him, it, her, whatever pronoun you want, to help you show your child that English can be fun. 25 pages of anti-boredom remedies, ready to be printed and packed in your child’s travel bag! It costs 10€, and it’s yours for life, to be used whenever and wherever you want! Check out the full description and details by clicking the fun little green button below.

I often get asked the question – “What should I do to help my child learn English better/faster/more easily?” Guess what? There’s no right answer to this question. Don’t despair! This is a good thing! There is no one right way to learn a language or to make a child learn a language. What works for some kids doesn’t work for others. Some kids love doing exercises and writing everything down in their pristine English notebook. Other kids would rather just sing, dance and play games in English. Others just have fun chatting with their teacher and classmates. I thought about writing another one of my long email books about how “alternative” teaching methods can help kids learn English, but I literally just deleted three paragraphs of what I had written because it was boring. Here’s some tangible examples instead. Francesco was bored with the typical school review approach. He needed to use his imagination, so we started reading stories. As he got older, he started telling me his own stories – about school, friends, sports, life in general. He’s now just passed the Cambridge B2 exam, at 14 years old! Aurora loves her English notebook. She loves writing down new words, doing her homework and most of all, playing “Simon Says”. Do you know why I think she loves Simon Says so much? Because the fact that she can understand what Simon is asking her to do, or not do, is so motivating for her and shows her how much she really does understand, even at her young age. Davide loves talking. Not just with me, but with his classmates. He wants his classmates to have as much fun as he does acting out dialogues, inventing stories and looking up new words. I often let him share his screen to show us a picture of something that he wants to talk about, and I let him be the mini teacher for a few minutes! Maria Giovanna uses our English lessons as her own personal “show and tell” time. Her stuffed animals, her adorable dog and her desktop lamp have become her classmates. They all get a turn to play whenever we play a game or read a story, and she loves the fact that I welcome anything and everything that she wants to bring to her lesson. Once her mom asked me if I wanted her to stop bringing things that “distracted” her. When I explained that she put on a new voice for every stuffed animal (in English) to interact with me like another classmate, her mom was positively surprised! So – the best way to learn English? By connecting with the “why”. I want to give my students a “why” – if they want to tell me about their “horrible, no good, very bad day”, they know they can, on the condition that they try to talk to me in English. If they want to be the “teacher” for a minute and explain something to me, they know they will be listened to. I love learning about their interests – I’m not so old yet that I don’t know what Tik Tok is or who Snoop Dog or Sfera e Basta is, but I let them talk to me as if I didn’t know anything so they can use their knowledge (and knowledge of English) to talk to me about something they’re interested in. No rocket science here. No “my way is the best way” here. Just plain old I want to help kids enjoy learning English. That’s it. And you, dear parent, are already doing your part by reading this newsletter or my blog. By trying out some of the games or websites that I suggest. By using the PDF’s that I create. So fear not – there is no one right way to get your child to learn better or faster. Just keep doing what you’re doing in the way that works for you, your schedule and your lifestyle! As the holidays approach, you’re hopefully getting ready to take some time off and spend some more time with your family. As a parent though, I imagine that can also sometimes be stressful! What to pack, what to bring to keep them entertained on the journey, oh no not the tablet, again! Every summer I create some fun printables for my students to do when they’re on holiday, and this year is no different! Moppy the Mini Monster is ready to go on holiday with you and your child! It’s a 25-page holiday themed workbook full of stories and fun activities for elementary school kids – complete with instructions for you (in both English and Italian) that’s easy to print (90% black and white) and even easier to do (all you need is a pen or pencil and some colors!). The best part? It’s almost free. It costs 10€, and I hope it’s just what you need to add to your kid’s “anti-boredom holiday pack”!

Hey parent. Guess what? You’re doing a great job. Raising kids has got to be the most rewarding yet also the most challenging responsibility on the face of the earth, so hats off to you. Nowadays, we’re bombarded with so much information on how to: •Be more productive •Be healthier •Be more active •Be a super employee or entrepreneur •Be more creative •Be more relaxed •Be a perfect parent The list could go on forever. But with all the information out there online, as well as all the funny reels and carousels full of tips on social media on the do’s and don’ts of perfect parenting, it’s normal to sometimes feel like you’re not doing enough. I just want to tell you that if you ever feel that way when you read my newsletter, please remember that I am your biggest fan and you have my utmost respect – I’ve no idea how difficult it is to be a parent! I want you to remember that even if you never apply any of the tips that I share with you in my emails, you’re still a super parent. I want you to remember that if you don’t have the possibility to sign your child up for English lessons, camps, or study abroad experiences, they will still grow up to be a perfectly successful adult. I also want you to remember that your child is different from all the other children out there, and will learn at their own pace. There’s no rush. As I always tell you here in my emails, the most important thing that you can do is help your child to understand that learning a second language can not only open doors for them in the future, but it can allow them to do cool things even now during their childhood. And to do that, all you need to do is have a positive attitude towards it yourself. That’s it. Everything else you do to help them on their learning journey is extra. So, on that note, in honour of my now 35 years of age, here’s a gift for you to help you do that. It’s a short video story about Alex the Dog that you can watch with your child or have them watch alone if they’re big enough. To complete the story and help your child connect even more with the story and its vocabulary, I’ve prepared a PDF complete with 5 activities to complete during and after watching the story. Let’s call it my birthday gift to you. If you want to give me a gift too, after watching the video, hit reply to this email and let me know if your child enjoyed it and if they were able to complete the activities. I’d oh so love to hear your opinions!

Today is a special day, and this week is a special week! Let me tell you why, and then explain why my personal life actually relates to your child growing speaking English like a pro. Today is my 7-year wedding anniversary and this is BIG news because growing up, I always said, “I’m NEVER getting married!!” Hahah! Never say never! I guess I just met the right person at the right time, and I would have never met that person if I hadn’t decided to go and live in Spain and of course, learn Spanish. And I wouldn’t be here writing to you today in Italian as the “teacher-preneur” Teacher Claire if I hadn’t met that cute Italian boy who is now my husband while we were both living and working in Spain. Funny how things work out, isn’t it? Do you know what else I said I would never do when I was growing up? Become a teacher. My idea of school was everything but positive. I got good grades, don’t get me wrong, but I hated school and most of my teachers – I was the rebellious kid in the back of the class who filled her notebook not with notes but with funny doodles. So, what changed? Learning a language. No, learning 2 languages. If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know that I studied Spanish at school, in the same way your child learns English at school, but when I arrived in Spain for University, I had no idea how to really communicate. Do you know what helped me get over my fear of speaking in Spanish? Kids. If that sounds confusing, let me explain. I started babysitting Spanish kids to make some extra money while studying at university. Now of course, I used mostly English, also because my Spanish was worse than your child’s English is now (trust me), but when you babysit, sometimes kids get upset or hurt, then cry, and they need comfort, in their first language, and rightly so! So, in those situations, to show them that I was there to help and that I could understand their problem (even if I didn’t understand every word they were saying), I would try to speak some Spanish to them. I didn’t worry about making mistakes like I did when I spoke to their parents or to people at university parties. I just tried, because the goal was to be able to communicate enough with them to solve their problem. Textbook language learning situation? Definitely not. Did it work? You bet. Last week I asked you to give me some feedback regarding your child’s English lessons at school. I wanted to highlight an interesting comment that I got from D (thanks, you know who you are 😉). This is what she told me: “A proposito dell'insegnamento dell’inglese, concordo con te [che la qualità non è sempre brillante] a parte un progetto di CLIL che quest' anno è stato interessante e a MG è piaciuto molto!” What is CLIL? My specialty, I actually wrote my thesis on it! Basically, it involves teaching something that isn’t English, IN English. So, teaching Art, Science, History, or any other subject, in English, using notions that the kids have already learned in their first language. And let me tell you, it WORKS! This is an “alternative” method to teaching English, which generally involves a lot more hands on activities and above all, speaking opportunities than a traditional English class would. If you want my opinion, it’s a much more natural approach to learning a language, while at the same time still being compatible with a traditional school context. Let me connect all the dots here and arrive to a conclusion, as I’ve once again written a book (I really should write a book…). •Learning a language changed the ENTIRE course of my life, in ways I never could have imagined as a kid, and I’m so so so thankful that I had the opportunity, and I want the same for your child. •Learning to speak a second language often occurs OUTSIDE of a traditional school context, even if your child can’t travel to another country yet, or ever! •Any motivation is a valid motivation to learn a language, and trust me, your child already has one! I’ve decided to dedicate 100% of my time and energy to helping kids find their own motivation to learn a language so that they can grow up to have as many amazing opportunities as I have had, and continue to have, because I’m not done growing up yet either! On that note, Saturday is my birthday, I’m going to be a whopping 35 years of age, OMG. A good age to finally know what I want to do when I grow up, right? So, while I call myself Teacher Claire, I am the antithesis of all the teachers I had growing up, and want to use my childlike enthusiasm to show your child that English is fabulous. Next week’s newsletter will contain a super gift in honour of my old age for you that will show you first hand just how enthusiastic I am about this whole thing (if you haven’t already figured that out), so don’t unsubscribe just yet haha! Today’s newsletter will be less gift-y and just tell you that I have only 2 slots left for my 1-1 summer lessons, so if you want to jump on that offer, you can check out my lesson packs or book a discovery call here before they fill up! That’s enough, probably too much, for one day, so I’m off to go plan my birthday party. Toodles!

I wanted to talk about something that I’ve been discussing a lot lately with my clients, potential clients, and also friends – and it has to do with the way English is taught at school. I know, I know, it’s July 1st and the last thing on your mind is school right now. But since time flies, September will be here before we know it, so I figured, why not talk about it, it’s on my mind, and obviously on a lot of other people’s minds as well! So, here’s the evidence I’ve gathered from many conversations with people, as well as a bit of my own personal experience: the quality of English education in MOST Italian public schools isn’t brilliant. I don’t like to be a Negative Nancy, I’m not a Negative Nancy really, I’m just realistic. And often times this can be understood the wrong way. For example, just the other week, my dear, loving (and sometimes annoying) husband said, “Claire, that Instagram post about the problem with English at schools was pretty extreme, no? Shouldn’t you try to be more positive?” To which I answered, “Dear husband, first of all, you don’t have a child, so you don’t know what’s going on in school. Second of all, yes, I’d absolutely love to be more positive, but this is the unfortunate, realistic situation, at least for many people!” I could write a list of quotes from mom’s and friends who’ve told me they’re not entirely happy with their child’s English education, but let’s be real – you probably don’t need to read them to know what I’m talking about. Let me know though, because I’m sure (and I know) that some schools actually do offer quite a good English program, so if that’s your case, that’s awesome! But I wanted to dissect this problem a bit here with you today, so that you can also understand why this is the case – and no – it’s not 100% the Ministry’s fault or the teachers’ fault. It actually has to do more with how a language is learned vs. how other subjects can be taught and learned by kids. I want to compare English to Art (NOT Art History), because Art, in a way, is very similar to English. Hear me out. Quality Art lessons must be taught by a passionate teacher. Quality Art lessons require a lot of resources, a textbook and the Internet is not enough. Some kids seem to be born with innate art skills, others not so much. The only way to improve your art skills is to practice drawing, painting, etc. Theory is not enough. All of the above also apply to learning English. The only difference between the two subjects is that Art is often considered (both in and out of school) as an “extra” subject, or as I like to call it, a “reject” subject. This is so sad because Art teaches children so many things, but I don’t digress. English is deemed “more important” just because it supposedly offers more opportunities in life. The problem with both Art and English at school is the same. Sometimes the teachers aren’t passionate about teaching the subject, or just don’t have enough time or resources to bring it to life for their students. Many schools don’t have access to high quality resources to make learning more interactive for the students. The students who don’t learn as quickly as others are often just taught to believe, “I’m just not good at languages/drawing”. And 100% of the student at school don’t get enough opportunities to practice speaking, due to class size and lack of time. These are just cold hard facts. Languages are learned through speaking. Just learning the theory is not enough. If a student grows up to be a professional artist, you can be sure they didn’t just practice drawing 1-2 hours a week, and for English, it’s exactly the same. So, what do you think? Am I a Negative Nancy? I’d love to hear your thoughts on your child’s English education at school. Are you happy with it, or do you think it could be improved? You know what I’m going say by now – if you’re looking for some extra support to boost your child’s learning, I still have a few slots left for 1-1 lessons during July and August, so check out all the info here, and get in touch if you have any questions!