Mathew B

My Passion & How I Inspire

Having entered university with no background in East Asian studies, I appreciate how daunting getting to grips with a subject can be. Equally, I understand how great of an impact a good tutor can have on your learning, and this mentality is something I try to display in my lessons. I draw on my experiences of working within government, the City and in academia to deliver well-rounded, unique lessons, which have clear relevance to the what is going on in the world around us.

Experience has taught me that there is no such thing as a “typical” student, and so my lessons are tailored to the individual, rather than pulled straight from a mass-produced textbook. My lessons are fun, challenging, engaging, but most of all, make you think independently. I like to discuss and debate course material to make lessons lively and to help you develop a deep understanding of the content.

Each lesson is tailored to your ability, your interests, and ultimately, what you want to get out of the subject. I have experience of teaching to suit a variety of curricula, including different A Level exam boards and degree programmes. I also have extensive experience in university application mentoring, including tutoring specifically aimed at those students looking to attend Oxford or Cambridge.

My Experience

Teaching has long been a passion of mine. Over the past 5 years, I have taught a range of students from the ages of 4 to 70 in 5 different countries. This has included tuition of international relations, politics and Japanese to university and A Level students in the UK, as well as teaching English to doctors and nurses in South Korea, and Buddhist monks in Japan! Aside from tutoring, I have experience working within government and a Japan-focused hedge fund.

Japanese: Degree-level/ Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) levels 1 to 5. A Level and IB (for both ab initio and experienced learners)

Modern History: Degree level/ A Level/ GCSE (AQA, OCR, Edexcel, WJEC)

Government and Politics: Degree level/ A Level/ GCSE (AQA, OCR, Edexcel, WJEC)

International Relations: Degree level

University Applications: All arts and humanities subjects, including foreign languages. Specialist support for Oxbridge applications.

Subjects That I Teach

  • English Foreign Language
  • English
  • Essay Writing
  • GRE
  • History
  • International Relations
  • Politics

My Qualifications

Queens’ College, University of Cambridge – East Asian Studies (BA First-Class Hons)

German A Level – A*

English Language A Level – A*

Spanish A Level – A

Extended Project Qualification (South Korea’s Soft Power and Influence on International Relations) – A*

General Studies A Level – A*

Winner of the Richard Koch Breakthrough Essay Prize at the Institute of Economic Affairs - ÂŁ50,000

My Video Introduction

Fun fact

I like to challenge myself, whether that be physically or academically! This year, I reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro after a gruelling week-long expedition. My current challenge is a translation of a song into Japanese for a British artist!