Julia Richter: in Ireland, teaching German, to students worldwide!
Julia Richter, originally from Berlin, works as a part-time freelance artist in Ireland. She is self-taught and has many years of experience. Julia has translated her love for her native language into courses that have reached over 150,000 students through Alison. She spoke to the Alison blog about her scientific background, her love of languages and about how everybody learns differently.
I am a native German and I qualified as a secondary teacher in Germany. I continued my career in Chemistry at Trinity College Dublin and graduated with a PhD in organic chemistry in 2008. While studying, I enjoyed teaching mainly organic chemistry to undergrads, as well as medical students. I published scientific articles and also wrote a chapter in a scientific book. My passion for languages results from my original studies of the French language and literature and also by learning English as a foreign language in Ireland.
I developed a passion for cultivating my native language and heritage after settling long term in Ireland (15 years now!). This way, I can combine my passion for languages with my background in teaching. I’ve been publishing under the brand of ‘Deutsch mit Julia’ since 2010.
Alison contacted me and I was happy to join as soon as possible as a freelancer. I’m very grateful to Alison for providing this wonderful platform for online learning and allowing me to share my content there. I am proud of working for a learning site developed and published in Ireland. It’s a great outlet for learning, growing my own skills and being in close contact with learners.
I’ve published a German Starter Course with Alison and am glad it resonates well within the Alison community. I got a lot of positive feedback and am proud of all the students learning with me.
Everyone learns differently. I suppose being motivated to learn is the most important thing. Some learn visually, others by doing, and some by just listening or in mixed ways. I personally like listening, combined with some visual aspects. Of course for languages, practice in real life situations is super important! I design my courses using my personal learning preferences and hope to help learners with similar predispositions.
I have taught myself 3D design for gaming over the last few years using online platforms. It was great fun and I found some very good teachers. I would like to teach 3D character design maybe someday too.
I believe in lifelong learning. Being curious and willing to learn new things all the time keeps you young in spirit and supports an active and healthy mind!
