Aleksandra

I am about to conclude a PhD in English at the University of Cambridge, where I have for the past almost four years also provided instruction and dissertation supervision to undergraduate students, as well as assessed applicant entrance examinations. I now continue to research and teach across Cambridge and privately.

I specialised in English at the University of Cambridge, where I undertook both a PhD and an MPhil ('with Distinction'). Prior, I obtained a broader background across European, especially Germanic and Slavonic, literatures, linguistics, languages, and related histories and philosophies (which I continue to draw on in my current research and teaching), completing a BA Hons at Utrecht University ('summa cum laude', upon conversion equivalent to 'Double Class I with Distinction') and concluding my earlier school education in Ljubljana, Slovenia (with results equivalent to '6A*s' at A-Level and '14A*s' at GCSE/IGCSE level). Throughout, I have been funded through a selection of competitive academic scholarships (including awards from the Cambridge Trust, Le Bas Fund, Utrecht Fund, and numerous others).

I consequently teach English literature, linguistics and language (up to MA level, including also BA, IB, A-Level, GCSE/IGCSE, and comparable educational stages) as well as related humanities subjects (generally up to BA level), including comparative literatures, linguistics and languages, philosophy, history, and philosophy and history of art (especially as my work has often been both cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural). At the same time, I also offer help with applications (including to schools, universities and scholarships) and examination and interview preparation (including Oxbridge, Russell Group, League of European Research Universities, Ivy League, and other institutions).

Tutoring Experience

I have taught extensively through a combination of educational institutions (especially the University of Cambridge), initiatives (including several Oxbridge schemes, such as are run by The Sutton Trust, The Brilliant Club and other charities) and platforms like this one.

In general, much of my teaching experience has involved aiding students with essential academic skills such as reading comprehension, synthesis, writing, editing, presentation, and approaching extended pieces of coursework and independent research (including for IGCSE/GCSEs, A-Levels, EPQs, EEs, IAs, BA/BSc theses and MA/MLitt/MPhil/MSc dissertations — whether in the same discipline/s as mine or not, with essential academic skills being, after all, highly transferrable). I am particularly capable of improving students' critical and analytical capabilities — and helping them know how to effectively read, analyse, research and write about texts in the humanities.

At Cambridge, I have for the past almost four years provided one-on-one supervision and small-scale seminar-style instruction to undergraduate (first- up to final-year) students reading for degrees in the literatures, linguistics and languages at the Faculty of English and the Faculty of Modern and Mediaeval Languages, with a number having gone on to achieve marks of 'Class I' (70/75+) or 'Class I with Distinction' (75/80+). My expertise is in dissertations and papers (or modules, as they are often called outside of Cambridge) across literary and linguistic history, theory and analysis (including 'Practical Criticism and Critical Practice I' and 'II', 'The History and Theory of Criticism', and related modules) and across literary and linguistic forms, themes and developments of the period of roughly '1830–Present' (including 'English Literature and Its Contexts, 1830–1945' and '1914–Present', 'Special Periods' across prose and poetry '1847–1872', '1936–1856', and '1960–Present', and dissertations attending to particular authors, titles and themes within the period '1830–Present', with a concentration on English but also extending into comparative studies, especially where English intersects with Russian or else with Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian — recent topics have looked into Nabokov's North American as well as Eastern European years and into Joyce's South-Eastern European influences and impacts). I am always happy to adapt these sorts of intensive, one-on-one or small-scale sessions to my students outside of Cambridge, too — and can teach topics within my specialism up to MA level, as well as topics outside of it, including philosophy and history, up to BA Hons level.

At the same time, outside of teaching, I have also contributed to undergraduate and applicant assessments at the Faculty of English and the Faculty of Modern and Mediaeval Languages, including as part of Cambridge's own entrance examinations (such as the 'CELAT' or 'Cambridge English Language Aptitude Test and the 'CMLAT' or 'Cambridge Modern Language Aptitude Test). As such, I have obtained a particularly good grasp of the standards expected of successful (or even exceptional) Oxbridge applicants and eventual students, including those whom I will end up teaching over the course of their next three or four years. At the same time, from the other end of the equation, I was fortunate to have had the entirety of my studies (including PhD, MPhil, BA Hons, and numerous exchanges and internships) funded through a selection of competitive academic scholarships (including full and/or parallel partial awards from The Cambridge Trust, Le Bas Fund, Utrecht Fund, Zois Fund and others, without whose aid I would not have been able to pursue my studies), so have an especially good understanding of what it takes to be offered places and funding at world-ranked research and teaching institutions. I am always happy to aid students outside of Cambridge, too, in developing their skills to this level and learning how to most effectively demonstrate them in the context of written and oral examinations, applications, and related endeavours.

Tutoring Approach

I am keenly aware of students' different personal and educational backgrounds and learning profiles, and ultimately aim to structure my lessons around each individual.

Therefore, if a student is able to provide previous or current syllabi, express particular interests, or articulate particular difficulties (whether due to a lack of experience, confidence, or a learning profile that has traditionally been marginalised by schools and universities), this can be especially useful for me to know. I have plentiful experience working with students from a range of educational, national and personal backgrounds (including, also, non-native students; students with disabilities which can impact teaching and learning, including ADHD, CFS/ME, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and others; and students from backgrounds which will have had an impact on their access to educational processes and resources, including those who have been refugees, low-income, first-generation, care-leavers, and socioeconomically disadvantaged), and I am always eager to find, discuss and calibrate the approaches and methods that work best for them (and ensure they have access to the appropriate resources).

I am especially capable of improving not only students' knowledge, but also their critical and analytical capabilities — imparting extensive, transferable academic skills such as reading comprehension, synthesis, argumentation, writing, and approaching extended pieces of coursework and independent research (such as EPQs, EEs, IAs, BA and MA dissertations), all critical to both thoroughly engaging with a subject and effectively demonstrating knowledge and understanding (whether as part of written and oral examinations or coursework). To do so:

(1) My sessions tend to be especially interactive — drawing much from the Cambridge supervision system I am used to working within, and adapting these individually tailored 'tutorials' to the aims, needs, and educational contexts of students outside of Cambridge, too. The sessions aim to function as opportunities for guided practice, as part of which students are introduced to new material and approaches while also being encouraged to consider how these can be explained in their own words, applied in different contexts, integrated with material they have previously encountered, used to generate original avenues of inquiry and investigation, and so forth. This allows the student to not simply passively absorb but actively process information. At the same time, sessions can also be arranged so as to involve plentiful opportunities for a student to take home reading, writing, and other prompts, which I can then annotate and discuss with the student in person over the course of the next session, allowing them to practise and calibrate their skills all the quicker.

(2) My sessions also place emphasis on lessons being genuinely engaging to the student — drawing from the simple fact that students learn most effectively when they are excited at the prospect of where a subject, topic, question or hypothesis might take them. I always keep the student's interests in mind when structuring lessons and take-home assignments, offering explanations and applications, and otherwise trying to provide space for the development of curiosity, interest and eventually also confidence.

Tutoring Arrangements:

I am available for appointments both in person and online — at locations within Cambridge (and surroundings, provided compensation for travel time and expenses) as well as through platforms such as Skype (and alternative open-source platforms preferred by the student). I am quite flexible (and able to accommodate teaching from early mornings until late evenings on a number of days throughout both the weekdays and weekends) — and open to inquiries also from those who require a more unconventional approach (including work with sudden and imminent deadlines, late-night availabilities, and other unconventional circumstances).

As I understand that the 'finder's fee' FirstTutors charges in order to put students in touch with tutors can be a little bit daunting, I try to mitigate this by offering a 50% discount on all trial appointments booked with me. If the trial appointment is to a student's liking, and they are keen to schedule more, I can be reached at most times of the day either through FirstTutors, email or phone (including WhatsApp). I usually accept bookings through confirmation of payment (possible through a number of secure payment methods, including direct bank transfer or PayPal), however, as I know scheduling can be a complicated and occasionally unpredictable affair, I am able to accommodate all cancellations made no later than 48 hours in advance of a lesson with a 100% refund, as well as all cancellations made no later than 24 hours in advance of a lesson with a 50% refund of tuition fees (in cases where travel fees are also applicable and travel has already been arranged, travel fees will unfortunately usually not be refundable).