Kristin Dunn

I was born in Hamburg and am therefore a German native speaker. However, I was fortunate enough to grow up bilingual and to live in Australia and Colombia for several years thus furthering my language skills. Due to my years of travel, as well as training, I am fluent in spoken and written English and have a basic knowledge of Spanish.

I was drawn to the south of Germany for my studies, where I completed my bachelor’s degree at the Johannes-Gutenberg-University Mainz, Faculty 06 in Germersheim. There I studied linguistics, cultural studies, and translation studies (English/Spanish). Subsequently I started my master’s degree in English linguistics and literature at the prestigious Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg. Because of my great interest in teaching German, I decided to take the extracurricular study 'German as a foreign language/German as a second language' at the University of Mannheim. Heidelberg has quickly become my desired home and my clientele are spread all the way across the Rhein-Neckar region.

I became a teacher because I enjoy working with people and helping them to pursue their personal goals; it is my honest belief that a good teacher and educator is one who wants their students to succeed. Language and culture are my greatest passions and with my profession as a foreign language teacher I have made these passions my job. This profession is fulfilling for me every day and it is exciting to observe the constant development of learners and to support every step of their language learning.

I have been a foreign language teacher and translator (English and German) for three years now. I have extensive knowledge of adapting lesson plans for all types of learners and am very successful in developing innovative lessons that support every step of language learning.

I teach children and adults, one-to-one or small groups. I give private lessons, teach at language schools/private schools/universities (e.g. F+U - Language Academy Heidelberg, HPC Schulen as well as the Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Ludwigshafen) or in large companies (e.g. Roche Mannheim and Studierendenwerk Mannheim). With experience in all sorts of sectors including business, management, pharmacy/medicine, and academia I therefore also offer courses for business German or English.

For me it is important to assist students individually to help master assignments and reinforce learning concepts. Furthermore, I adapt my teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students’ varying needs and interests. I do not only work with one book but rather choose suitable material from different sources to meet individual and collective learning needs to capture the students’ interest and maximise individual learning. I want my students to feel comfortable speaking another language and also have fun learning!

In addition to my great passion for language teaching, I translate, edit, and proofread various types of texts, which is also a great pleasure and a pleasant balance to working with language learners. Becoming acquainted with different topics and dealing with the system of a language constantly broadens my horizon.