Students! Improve your English and design your best life with a Positive Psychology Life Coach - Upper Intermediate Only

Find out more about Jenna

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  Because of my origins. I was born and raised in England to English parents in the South West of England, however, my accent is more of a London accent - very clear to understand for students!

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  JK Rowling's Harry Potter. What a world she has created using English! And a whole range of new, magical, fictional words! Good luck to anyone reading those books!

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behaviour in the language that you particularly like?

  I really like Cockney rhyming slang. For example saying, "Are you having a bubble?" to mean "Are you having a laugh" as laugh rhymes with bath and bubble is short for bubble bath! Sounds complicated but they can be fun to work out!

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  I am proud of my wide vocabulary and ability to articulate as it enables you more freedom over what you are wanting to express. Language is the way we paint our pictures of the world. Our experience of life is so subjective and by having access to more language simply gives us bigger lives.

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  There are so many words and it's everchanging. I always tell my students to read. Read everything and anything. Adverts, newspapers, magazines, children's books, novels, tv programmes with subtitles. Because then you will be exposed to a wider array of different lexises (A word in all its various relationships with other words) and it will help grow your passive vocabulary (vocab you didn't realise you knew until it comes out!)

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  I just remember copying grammar off the overhead projector and really appreciating the teacher using different colours to outline the different parts of speech. I really liked my French teachers. I only learnt French and a little Spanish in school but I really liked learning French and I got an A! I think this was down to liking the teacher so much.

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  I have spent 3 months in South America, lived in San Sebastian in the Basque country in Northern Spain for 3 months and also spent a month in Mexico which means I have had a lot of exposure to Spanish so I feel I can pronounce words well. I never took any Spanish lessons though and I should have done as it would have really helped me. Sometimes total immersion is not enough! Languages are difficult!

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  I absolutely love English and I am good at it. I received two As at GCSE for English Language and English Literature. I have written many rhymes and poems and also kept various travel blogs and other blogs. I have written for magazines and I have worked with so many students over the last ten years that I really understand how to grade my language to communicate with students in a way they understand - challenging them yet not letting them feel stressed. Also as I am studying for my Master's in Psychology, I regularly read and write academic papers which contain some of the most inaccessible jargon ever! So I feel that keeps me on my toes!