Highgrove Online School’s teachers are some of the most passionate and accomplished teachers in education. In between their busy teaching commitments and marking responsibilities, we asked them a few questions about life as a teacher, what inspires them, and what advice they have for not only Highgrove’s talented pupils, but for the next generation of young learners. We hope you enjoy our new “5 Questions with…” series.
In this week’s instalment, we get to know Ms Lesley Paramo, Highgrove’s Spanish and French teacher. Lesley has been teaching Spanish and French for ten years, including teaching French at Harrow School Online. Lesley gained a first in a joint honours degree in Modern Languages & Linguistics from Pembroke College, Oxford University, and a PGCE in Modern Foreign Languages from Roehampton University. She has also completed a master’s degree in Language Acquisition at Toulouse University in France. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys travelling, reading, cooking and sport.
Let’s get to know Lesley Paramo!
1. When did you first become interested in modern languages? What made you want to become a language teacher?
It wasn’t until I started secondary school that I started learning a language – before that, I hadn’t even been abroad! I instantly loved the patterns and regularity within languages (although many of my students learning irregular verbs would probably dispute that!). Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to live and work abroad, and that’s why I wanted to become a teacher – to make that possible for students, too.
2. What are the benefits of learning a language online, from your experience?
The flipped learning approach we use at Highgrove means that students can do lots of the learning – learning new vocabulary, learning about new grammar points – at their own pace. That frees up our lesson time to practise applying that knowledge in comprehension. There are also so many online resources and games for learning languages which keeps it fun and interactive.
3. Can you tell us about one of your favourite memories of teaching at Highgrove?
This is maybe not one particular memory – but I was proud last year of my two A Level Spanish students who opted to study the course in just one year as they were semi-native speakers. People think that if you’re a native speaker, it must be easy to sit the A Level – but it’s really not! I was super happy that they weren’t complacent and worked really hard to achieve a grade A* and A respectively.
4. We know you’re an avid traveller. Where are some of your favourite places that you’ve visited? Have you had opportunities to practise your foreign language skills whilst traveling?
Iceland is probably my favourite place that I’ve visited, as I’m a fan of the great outdoors and there are so many iconic places to visit and things to see. My Icelandic is not up to scratch, though, unfortunately! I’m also trying to visit some places closer to home, in both France and Spain, as they often get overlooked in favour of more exotic and far-flung places. I recently visited Compiègne in the north of France, where the 1918 Armistice was signed and where Napoleon lived – it’s a beautiful town and so rich in history.
5. And, lastly, how do you think learning another language can prepare students for both their future careers and further studies?
Learning a language is not just about being able to converse in that language – it’s rigorous and demands quite an analytic mind, as well, so it’s great for developing skills in analysis. It obviously also helps you to develop your communication skills as you need to find ways to communicate if you don’t have the exact words you need, so it’s good for your mental agility.
Thank you for your time, Ms. Paramo!
