Rozitah Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Rozitah, please tell us a little bit about yourself.: A. I am 43 years old and I currently live in Morocco with my husband and two children. My daughter is currently 11 years old and my son is turning 5 soon. I have taught English since 1994 in Singapore, Bangladesh, Morocco, Russia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. At the moment, I am teaching online to students who are willing to learn. My ambition is to do a PhD in Linguistics to help me improve my skills in the field of teaching.
Q. According to your profile, you live in Morocco. Could you tell us a little more about your city?: A. I have been teaching English for nearly 20 years and usually moved around to wherever my teaching job took me. But now I live in Morocco with my family as this is where my husband is from and where my daughter was born. Morocco is my second home. Fes is the third largest city in Morocco and has the oldest university in the world, University of al-Karaouine. Not a lot of people know this :) Many tourists come to Fes around spring or autumn because the weather is not too hot or too cold then! If you visit Morocco, I would recommend you try “tajine” or “couscous”, which many Moroccans eat on Friday.
Q. I heard you like to go to beach or a cafe on your free time. Do you have any other hobbies?: A. Yes, I like doing craft work, sewing and making jewellery. I also make some clothes for my family and if I have the time, I bake little biscuits too. The picture you see here shows Pineapple Jam Tarts which I always make for the festival of Eid, after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
You can try out the recipe here.
Q. I know you are conversant in IELTS! Could I ask about the feature of your IELTS lessons?: A. My IELTS lessons are very popular among students as I usually look at their strengths and weaknesses and work on improving any problem areas. I use a step-by-step approach and let candidates know what examiners are exactly looking for and what students should avoid doing. I had been an IELTS examiner for 10 years and have given face-to-face workshops for candidates at conferences in various countries. The picture shows one of the sessions I’ve given to a group of teachers. I have also seen many mistakes candidates make in their writing and speaking, so my lessons focus on moving students towards getting the score they need with IELTS. I’ve had past students telling me that they’ve achieved scores of 6.5 or 7 and even 8, just by attending my lessons.
Q. You have some characteristic lessons such as “Arabic for Beginners” and “Understanding Muslim Culture”. First, I want to ask about Arabic lesson! How do you teach Arabic on online? Do you use any textbooks?: A. I want to make learning Arabic easy, fun and educational at the same time. To do this, I make my lessons as relaxing as possible but also useful so that students understand and learn how to use Arabic naturally. Although I’ve already got a Diploma in English Language Teaching (DELTA), I enjoy knowing how students learn languages and constantly look for ways to help my students. Here is a picture of a workshop I attended by an ELT writer, Jim Scrivener, who wrote a book for teachers called Learning Teaching. I start my lessons by presenting new language and then practising it with the student. There are no textbooks for this course but I use various materials, such as mp3 or video recordings, articles or my own notes. At the end of each lesson, students will be able to use basic Arabic expressions become more confident in communicating in Arabic!
Q. I’m interested in “Understanding Muslim Culture”, too. Could you explain a little bit about this lesson?: A. Understanding Muslim Culture helps students know what to expect and do when they visit a Muslim country. There are so many things about Japanese culture that are similar to Muslim culture but students will still be surprised by how different some things are. This course will make sure that students do not make any embarrassing mistakes or blunders in various situations so that they can socialise or do business more easily in a foreign country. At the same time, this course also helps to improve students’ English by practising some new grammar and vocabulary related to this.
Q. Before we finish, would you like to leave our students with an inspiring message.: A. There is no such thing as impossible! Learning a language is like learning how to play a musical instrument. It takes lots and lots of practice to make good music or be excellent at communicating. If you are thinking of doing an IELTS test, it’s important that you not leave your preparations to the last minute. Start improving your English now and manage your time well. I can help you do that.