Margarita Demtšenko

In 1995, I graduated from the Narva College of the University of Tartu as a teacher of Russian language and literature, and in 2001 I graduated from Euroülikool as an Estonian/English translator. In 2021, I completed my master’s degree as a teacher of foreign languages (English/Russian). From 2003 to 2018, I worked at the Northern District Prosecutor’s Office as a translator of Estonian, Russian, and English. Since 2015 I have been teaching Russian, Estonian and English at the Multilingua Language School and starting from the year 2021 I have been training teachers from different European countries in the framework of Erasmus+ projects organised by the Multilingua Competency Center. Since 2018 I have also been working as a foreign language teacher in a secondary school, where I teach English, Russian and French.

My teaching profile goes well with the name of Multilingua Language Center, as I am myself very multilingual and multifunctional. It is no coincidence that my career as a teacher began in 2015 with the Multilingua Language School. Now I have more than  10 years of “formal” and “informal” experience in teaching Russian, Estonian, English and French to adults, teenagers, and children with different levels of language proficiency.

By “informal” language teaching, I mean the experience of working in children’s clubs and camps, thanks to which I can support the development of children and young people and help them in acquiring skills, knowledge and experience outside of the traditionally understood school education. “Formal” language teaching is my job as a school teacher, which gives me the skills to organize learning based on learning outcomes and the ability to evaluate based on the curriculum. 

I am proud that my teacher’s “toolkit” is wide and varied, because teaching different languages allows me to become better informed about different teaching methods and learning techniques, using and combining them more effectively than if I had taught only one language. Working with adults, youth and children teaches me to plan my work based on the age and needs of my students.

Translation experience and deep knowledge of grammar help me to notice the differences and similarities of languages in the process of teaching them, which forms connections with the knowledge that my students already have and contributes to more effective adoption of the material. I try to structure my lessons in such a way that there is a space both for traditional language learning elements (grammar, vocabulary, dialogues) and for culture in its broader sense. My favourite lessons are field trips, city walks and visits to museums together with my students where I combine language learning with history, arts, literature, architecture etc. I am convinced that receiving in teaching is just as important as giving. As a teacher, I pass on my knowledge to my students, but at the same time I receive from them the energy of craving for knowledge, the joy of communicating with interesting people and the delights of successful experience.