Karen Ristes’ journey as a Welsh tutor began in 1994, inspired by her own experience as a Welsh learner. Her deep passion for the language and a strong desire to inspire others led her to take on a part-time tutoring role, with Learn Welsh Gwent, and other organisations in South East Wales which blossomed into a full-time career by the late 1990s.

She has been a full-time tutor with Learn Welsh Gwent since 2018. Karen is now an exceptionally experienced tutor who excels in teaching learners across all levels including teaching on Welsh for Families courses, Welsh from the Cradle, Welsh in the Workplace, and highly intensive fast track courses. Her teaching includes outreach into the community and online.

In addition to her weekly teaching work, she has contributed to the development of additional resource materials to support learning, and these have been made available for other tutors to access. Karen has devised and piloted a highly intensive online course, called the ‘Super Fast Track’. In order to ensure the success of this provision, Karen had to adapt the contents of the current curriculum for all levels in order to create a suitable curriculum. She now offers advice and support to the other tutors who teach on these courses.

Her colleague, Sarah Meek says, “Karen is one of the best and inspires everyone, the learners, the tutors and her colleagues. Her love and passion for the Welsh language and her teaching work is very infectious. She is so enthusiastic, friendly, caring and supportive and we are so lucky to have her as part of our team.”

Alongside her teaching, Karen has been instrumental in mentoring fellow tutors, offering support, guidance, and
sharing best practice. Her mentoring has contributed to the success of many tutors, and her commitment to fostering a positive and engaging learning environment is evident through her work both inside and outside the classroom. She maintains a WhatsApp group for ongoing communication and organises informal practice sessions in various settings, from pubs to festivals.

Karen says, “I have been a mentor for several tutors and tutors who start teaching at levels in the curriculum which are new to them, they contact me to talk about things that concern them. As I am a Welsh learner myself, I can anticipate problems and explain them without using grammatical terms. I want learners to know that they can succeed in speaking Welsh even if they don’t understand grammar.”