Raluca Moldovan talks about how being a Language PAL leader helped push her language skills to the next level.
Hi, I'm Raluca and I have taken part of the PAL Leaders for Italian in second semester 2023. I have to say my experience was very positive, I originally decided to take part as I speak fluent Italian but I started feeling that I was not speaking it enough day to day in order to keep it up so being able to practice it weekly with different students not only gave me the possibility to expose myself to tutoring but also to just fall back in love with the language I used to once speak daily.
As a modern languages student (French and Spanish Advanced) I would definitely encourage students in this department to take the role of a PAL Leader as it would help you practice the language even more and it would give you an insight of what it's like to not only speak the language but also teach it. I have found myself learning throughout the sessions from the students attending so I would say that you are not only there to tutor but also to learn a great deal. It's a great way to push yourself and your language skills, even if teaching is not what you would like to do in the future it is still a great skill to have.
The sessions were really easy to plan, they are only one hour a week - usually during lunch time and the SU team help you throughout with examples and tasks to use during the sessions. You can introduce any topic you feel passionate about and by asking the students each week you can make sure you take in consideration their preferences as well. Overall, it's a great experience and you can choose whichever level you feel more confident in (beginners, intermediate or advanced) and enhance your language skills.
"It's a great way to push yourself and your language skills, even if teaching is not what you would like to do in the future it is still a great skill to have”
— Raluca Moldovan,BA(Hons) Modern Languages (French and Spanish)