Gemma Louise Watts

Languages have, and always will, fascinate me.

I was brought up by English parents in Spain, frequently visiting family and friends in England. As a result, I have had the rare opportunity to learn from two different cultures: their humour, their literature, their social priorities. Studying languages was almost inevitable and teaching languages (Spanish and English) came naturally, enriching and being enriched by my university studies. I realized that showing a student (whether a child or an adult) to enjoy English, presenting ESL learning as something interactive, something alive that can be harnessed and worked with on a practical level, gives extraordinary results.

I learned something else: No one is bad at languages.

Students are interested or uninterested, and it falls to teachers to spark said interest. This is my challenge and meeting it succesfully is my reward (well, being paid for my time and effort is also appreciated). I incorporate comedy, music, acting and debates into my classes, leading a dynamic, albeit sometimes noisy, class.

Asides from teaching, I find myself drawn to interpreting and translation. My three main languages are English, Spanish and Catalan. I love being able to switch between the three freely, finding the linguistic similarities and differences fascinating. I discovered that interpreting provides an infinite supply of varied knowledge.

Language is the key to communication, to understanding the universe and to progress, hence my desire to teach people to be able to communicate with each other, or act as an intermediary.

“Language comes first. It's not that language grows out of consciousness; if you haven't got language, you can't be conscious.” (Alan Moore)