Ten-year anniversary for Macclesfield business currently teaching Ukrainians English
A Macclesfield woman is celebrating ten years of her business in private English tuition.
Vivienne Sassoon (51) teaches English as a foreign language to people of all ages and nationalities
She offers engaging and interactive lessons that can be either in-person or online.
She has been teaching English as a foreign language for over 20 years, but set up her own business ten years ago.
Vivienne currently teaches some new Macclesfield-based Ukrainian students, and used to teach in the at-war Eastern European country.
"I am teaching six Ukrainian students English currently," Vivienne said.
"They're always welcome and there's a lot of support for them particularly at the moment with the situation in Ukraine.
"I'm involved in a support group which is helping people coming over from Ukraine and there's a lot going on to help.
"I feel very proud that Macclesfield is welcoming so many people from different countries and my students here in Macclesfield have had an amazing experience being here."
Vivienne prides herself on the personal connection she establishes with her students and how interactive her lessons are.
"I always engage with the student. I don't get them just to sit there and do lots of grammar exercises," she continued.
"For example, if I teach grammar, I'll play a game to practise it.
"I teach students in Macclesfield and all over. I teach other students in other parts of England, and abroad in places like Chile, Italy, Spain and Ukraine.
"To be honest, it doesn't really matter where I am, I feel like my lessons are always consistently interactive."
"I used to be a secondary school teacher where I mainly taught French, and then I did a Teaching English as a Foreign Language [TEFL] course and lived in Barcelona and Madrid, and taught English there," Vivienne said.
"After that I came back and I worked at Macclesfield College for a while teaching English as Head of English as a Foreign Language.
"Then I set up my own business that I have now, teaching mainly English as a foreign language to people of all ages and nationalities.
"I've always been interested in languages myself and I've lived abroad a lot.
"I love the English language, I find it very interesting and complex."
Her lessons provide students with the opportunity to prepare them for future jobs and experiences speaking English.
"My favourite bit of my job is when I find out former students have got these amazing jobs," she explained.
"For example my first student ever, who was from Poland, is now a tour guide in Poland and is doing all his tours in English.
"For me that feels like I've done a good job, and obviously he worked really hard but it's a really exciting feeling.
"I enjoy being with foreigners. I like to know a bit about their background and learn about their culture.
"When I'm teaching I'm also learning myself, which I find fascinating."
Vivienne has lived in Macclesfield for over 15 years and is proud of the cultural diversity that exists here.
"What I have noticed being in Macclesfield is that when I first moved here, it was labelled a cultural desert," she recalled.
"But actually living here, one thing I'd say about Macclesfield is it's very welcoming of people from all over the world."
Macclesfield has not had a language centre for over ten years, but Vivienne is positive about the idea of a new one being built.
"I think it would be a great thing to have," she stated.
"I think it would attract more people to Macclesfield and that's something that would be very beneficial.
As well as face-to-face lessons, she also offers lessons online for those that live far away.
"Obviously [with online lessons] I often have to send resources before the lesson so they've got them all ready, so there are some practical differences, but the lessons are just as interactive either way," she stated.
"For example, I've got a student from Chile who I taught online, I tutored her for over two years, having never met her, but we formed a strong bond."
"It was amazing when she came over to the UK for her honeymoon, and we actually met in person which was very emotional. We even went for a walk up White Nancy together."
Despite having vast experience in language teaching, Vivienne still has big plans for the future.
"I'd like to do more social events, maybe online or in Macclesfield bringing more students together," Vivienne also said.
"I do have an English learners in Macclesfield Facebook group and I post things on there, and students post any questions they may have.
"I want to do more events, maybe even set up a reading club or something like that."
"I charge £18 an hour for general English, and a little bit more for exam preparation because I have to do a lot of training for that and it's a bit more work.
"I try to keep rates low to make it very affordable to all my students. I think that's very important."
You can access Vivienne's services by emailing her at [email protected] if you are interested in online or face-to-face classes.
See Also: Over 80 Ukrainian's have arrived in Macclesfield since March
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