Hello, my name is Melissa Barrett and I'm an experienced native English tutor currently living in the United Kingdom. I have been giving English lessons online with Verbalplanet since 2020. I am currently offering a discounted initial trial lesson at 80% off my normal lesson price for new students.
5 Reasons to get started...
Check out the top 5 reasons people learn online with us...
Free trial lessons
Builds confidence
Personal to you
Flexible lesson times
Experienced teachers
Latest Reviews
zdenkam United Kingdom
A nice lesson, thank you :-)
Özgür A United Kingdom
Melissa is an amazing tutor. Actually, she is more than a tutor. She always prepared the lesson very well and gave homework and feedback to the work. She is a very approachable teacher, and I feel really confident with her. I know that I will achieve my full potential with her great teaching skills.
Özgür A United Kingdom
It was a great lesson.
ntsbln United Kingdom
Melissa is an excellent teacher!
I’ve been learning for many months with her and I made a lot of progress. The classes are always very well prepared. She really likes teaching and always has very good examples and a perfect pedagogy to share her knowledges. Thank you!
Svetlana-Bayandi United Kingdom
I’m so thankful to Melissa for her lessons. It was interesting and very useful for me. I had been studying for three months. For every lesson Melissa prepared absorbing tasks just in compliance with my wishes (grammar, vocabulary). She explains grammar very well – I’ve learnt many new things I didn’t know before! Many interesting nuances of English! And I’ve passed my English exam even more successfully than I had expected! So, I’m very glad that I chose her as my teacher because she is very pleasant, positive, patient as well as supportive person.
vlckovadominika United Kingdom
Very good and friendly teacher with great explaining and learning skills. I really enjoyed the conversation with Melissa.
I’m a British native English speaker. I have been teaching English since 1997. In addition to being a teacher, I have also been a teacher trainer.
I have taught in the Czech Republic, Australia and Singapore as well as in the UK. I have taught teenage and adult students of all ages, from absolute beginner to advanced levels. In addition to general English, I am experienced in preparing learners for Cambridge exams including B2 First, C1 Advanced and IELTS.
I am keen to help you to improve all areas of your English and to focus on the areas that are most important to you whether, speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation.
Qualifications & Experience
CELTA trainer (trainer for Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
• 2012, Cambridge, UK
DELTA (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
• 2004 – 2005, Cambridge, UK
TESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
• 1997, London, UK
B. A. Honours in Philosophy & Literature
• 1994 – 1997, University of Sussex, UK
Experience
• Teacher trainer: 2012 – 2020, Cambridge UK
• English teacher
2002 – 2022, Cambridge UK
2001 – 2002, Singapore
2000 – 2001, Sydney, Australia
1999 – 2000, Prague, Czech Republic
1997 – 1999, Liberec, Czech Republic
Teaching Approach
My lessons are adapted to the individual needs and wishes of each student. I listen to what you want to achieve and plan around your objectives. During the first lesson, we will identify exactly what you want to improve and I will design your personalised lessons accordingly. If you would like, I offer activities to do after each lesson to extend your learning.
My lessons are very communicative and will involve lots of speaking and error correction. In terms of pronunciation, I can give guidance on how to physically articulate sounds in order to help you speak more clearly and improve your accent. We can consider how sounds change in fast speech to help develop your listening skills.
I am patient, easy-going, friendly and keen to help your improve your English as much as possible.
zdenkam