Experienced and certified Sesotho & English Tutor with Bachelor of Education and TEFL | Online Lessons for All

Find out more about Mamontseng

• 1) When did you develop an interest in your subject and in private tutoring?

  I developed interested in the subjects I teach, Sesotho and English at a very tender age. With Sesotho, it's my mother tongue, I value and do by all means to protect it, make it well known and spoken. Hence, I chose to teach it, to the locals and those from abroad who come to our country or those who happen to have relationships with Basotho. I also teach Sesotho mostly to South Africans because they are one of those countries that have Sesotho as their official language.
  
  With English, I developed the interest when I was doing my Grade 8. We had an American peace-corp teacher and I liked the way he spoke, his accent. This fueled my desire to know more and I ended up being a teacher and teaching it.
  
  I have developed interested in teaching online way back in 2019 but by then I did not have proper equipment. I started teaching only the locals through my WhatsApp. Then I enrolled with Teacher Record for an online English teaching program and I started teaching even on international platforms.

• 2) Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  I like parts of speech in both Sesotho and English. They are the basis of both the Languages and for one to speak them fluently, they need to have a solid foundation of the parts of speech.
  
  I also like to talk to my learners about grammatical rules, more especially subject-verb agreement. This is by far the trickiest rule but once a learner grasps it, then conversing, reading and writing in both Sesotho and English come easily.
  
  I don't like talking about culture with my learners, most importantly international learners because our cultures differ at great lengths and it might cause a lot of confusion and discomfort.

• 3) Did you have any role models? Perhaps a teacher that inspired you?

  Both my Sesotho and English teachers became my role models. Their mastery of these languages in their classes, how they imparted knowledge on them, their teaching styles and their love for teaching got me where I am today.
  
  Above all, their relationships with us, their learners, the love, the care and unwavering support made me want to be one of their likes and here I am.

• 4) What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  Qualities of a good tutor
  
  Communication: a good tutor is a good communicator. This makes it very easy for a tutor to communicate their subject matter to their learners. It makes it easy also for them to give out clear and well-structured instructions and questions.
  
  Management skills: A good tutor also has management skills. This helps them manage their classes, lessons and time well. Which in turn grants them smooth running of their teaching-and-learning process.
  
  Observer: they also are very observant. This helps them to effectively scrutinized their learners closely, their actions, reactions and interactions; resulting in them acting accordingly.
  
  Friendliness: a good tutor is friendly. This makes them approachable and allows their learners easy approach in any matter they might have.
  
  Patience: a good tutor is also patient. They take their time, helping each of their learners at reasonable paces depending on their learners' understanding ability and their special needs.
  
  Knowledgeable: above all, a good tutor knows and masters their subject matter. This offers them opportunity to impart knowledge to their learners with ease.

• 5) Could you share an anecdote related to your subject or your student days?

  While i was in Grade 9, my parents could not afford my school fees. My peace-corp teacher took over and paid all my fees. I vowed to be the best and I was the only learner that obtained first class grade both at Junior Certificate and COSC in our school.

• 6) Did you face any difficulties at school or university?

  I faced many difficulties both in school and at university but let me cite this one: I did not have school shoes while I was to go to Grade 11, and my peace-corp teacher had then gone back to his home country. Even though the fees were covered because I had obtained scholarship from Social Development, I still needed school uniform and shoes. So I had to go and work with IEC as a police assistant in the 2007 National Assembly Elections. They were taking youths with at least Grade 7. When I got paid, I bought myself grasshopper shoes. They lasted me two years, through Grade 11 and 12.

• 7) Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general, an element of this particular subject, or something completely different?

  My passion is entirely on teaching. I spend most of my time bettering my teaching for the better me as a tutor and for my learners.

• 8) What makes you a Superprof?

  I am the best at my game! I can teach even in my sleep. Teaching and my content flow with my blood.