Mia J - Tutor in Melville
I've been working as a teacher in various capacities for a significant portion of my life now: first as a German tutor for high school students, and then as a teacher for ages twelve through seventeen at a small private school in Pretoria East, where I spent most of my lunch breaks hanging out with the chickens that, to my bafflement and delight, lived right outside my classroom. I went back to tutoring, after that - but this time at the University of Pretoria, where I worked with third-year German students. We tried our best to read Kafka and conjugate modal verbs without crying. I've spent 2020 at the University of Johannesburg, where I'm working on my Masters degree while tutoring undergrads in anthropology. Distance learning has been hard on all of us, but my students were kind enough to win me the award for best tutor in the humanities department despite the challenges we faced. I'm interested in languages, writing, history, and the social sciences, and I'm excited to keep exploring these subjects with students.
Tutor basics
Teaching places
Students Home, Public Place, and Online
Travelling distance
Mia will travel 30km from Melville, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Languages spoken
Mia speaks Afrikaans, German, and English
Experience
Teacher, Montessori School and Academy (Pretoria)
At this cottage school, I worked closely with small groups of students, which allowed me to shape my curriculum around their specific needs. Being able to devote attention to the unique learning styles and challenges of each student was an immensely rewarding part of my job.
Tutor, University of Pretoria
In 2018, I tutored a third year German Grammar and Literature course.
Education
BSocSciHons - University of Pretoria
I obtained my Hons degree in Anthropology with distinction, with my research concentrations being economic anthropology and workplace ethnography. I was fortunate enough to be the best preforming student in the BSocSciHons cohort.
BA - University of Pretoria
I completed my BA with German and Anthropology as my main subjects, but also completed modules in English language, literature, and editing throughout my undergrad. I graduated Cum Laude.
Subjects taught
-
History
My current field of study involves an in-depth engagement with the past and its impact on the present; I've been required to develop a keen awareness of the importance of historical context. I'm actually busy writing an oral history of the emergency medical services in Johannesburg at the moment!
Mia teaches History at High School and Primary School level(s)
-
German
I worked as a German teacher and tutor with a fairly broad range of students: from primary school pupils to undergraduates in their third year of study. Though I've spent some time living in Germany, I'm not a native speaker, which I think can be quite useful in teaching second- or third-language students. I've had to learn the rules through my studies, rather than the intuition of a native speaker.
Mia teaches German at High School, Primary School, and Adult level(s)
-
Writing
As a Masters student in Anthropology, I currently spend most of my time on academic writing. I studied literature as well as language editing during my undergrad, and I was fortunate enough to obtain my BA and my Honours degree with distinction.
Mia teaches Writing at High School, University/College, and Adult level(s)
-
English Language and Literature
My undergraduate studies involved courses in literature and language, both in English and German. When I matriculated in 2014, I also obtained distinctions for both these subjects. As a Masters student in Anthropology, I now spend the vast majority of my time on academic writing: playing with theoretical texts, producing ethnographic tracts based on fieldwork. A curiosity about language and the many ways in which one can use it is central to my studies.
Mia teaches English Language and Literature at High School and Primary School level(s)