Triin Leesmann

I graduated from the University of Tartu in 1993 with a Master’s degree in Estonian philology and a teaching profession, and in 2025 with a Master’s degree in theology from the Faculty of Theology. For almost thirty years I have been involved in adult education and since 2023 I have been teaching Estonian in language courses (B1 and B2 level), but I have also helped individual students to prepare for exams.

I consider patience, dedication and the ability and desire to understand each student individually to be important qualities of a good teacher. Alongside this, I also consider a supportive atmosphere in a group to be crucial. In the learning process, the teacher should be a guide and a support. At the same time, the goal should be to help the student to find self-confidence and continued motivation through an understanding of their own progress. So – a healthy mix of challenge and support. 

While the primary aim is to make language a comfortable means of communication, I believe that grammar is an important foundation for understanding the connections in a language and only this makes deeper understanding possible. I love the sparkle in students’ eyes when they begin to love and perceive the language as a whole, and to ask the interesting questions they have about it in their everyday lives.

I am also a member of the Estonian Language as a Second Language Teachers’ Association and the Estonian Bible Translators’ Group.