Αbout Me
Hi, I'm Lydia!
After more than 10 years of teaching, I have come to understand that my passion lies in the connection between language education, learning design and content creation, and the way people understand, retrieve, and use knowledge.
One thing I have consistently observed throughout my teaching experience is that learning a language is rarely limited by understanding alone. More often, learners struggle to retrieve what they have learned and, most importantly, to use it in real-life situations.
This observation gradually changed the way I approached teaching. Instead of asking only, "How can I explain this better?", I began asking:
"How can I make this easier to understand, retrieve, and use?"
That question became the starting point for creating my own learning materials.
At first, these were simple resources designed to support my students and respond to challenges I observed during lessons. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I had the opportunity to explore more creative approaches to learning-content design. I began developing flashcards, worksheets, visual summaries, mind maps, learning guides, educational games, and interactive activities intended to present language content more clearly, organise information visually, and provide learners with different ways to practise and revisit it.
Later, while teaching at the French Institute of Bulgaria in Sofia, I developed this approach further by designing and adapting materials for learners with different needs, levels, and objectives. Working in the classroom allowed me to observe how learners responded to different forms of content design, visual organisation, and purposeful activities, and to adapt materials accordingly.
My ongoing studies in Psychology have also influenced the way I teach and design. Principles such as visual organisation, active recall, retrieval practice, and meaningful interaction guide me in creating lessons and resources that support understanding, practice, and retrieval.
Over time, these projects became much more than supplementary teaching materials. They came to reflect the way I think about learning: learner-centred, visually structured, practical, and connected to real learning needs. Many of these resources were created in response to genuine classroom challenges and with the intention of making language learning more accessible and meaningful.
Today, I have brought these projects together in one place—not simply as a portfolio, but as a reflection of how I approach learning design, language education, and educational content development.
In 2026, I the decision to develop and offer selected educational resources for commercial distribution through third-party digital marketplaces. This activity allows me to transform ideas inspired by real learning needs into practical digital products for language learners, while continuing to explore new ways of connecting teaching, visual design, and independent learning.
I often think of Learning Design as preparing a meal, while teaching is sharing it with learners.
Thoughtfully designed content provides the foundation, while teaching transforms that content into learning through interaction and practice. For me, neither exists without the other. Every lesson continues to inspire new ideas for learning materials, and every resource I create continues to enrich my teaching.
Together, they create the balance that allows meaningful learning to happen.
My passion and my goal are closely connected:
To teach with clarity and creativity—and to design learning experiences that help people understand, use, and enjoy the process of learning.
I believe that meaningful education is not simply about presenting information. It is about making knowledge…
accessible.
usable.
meaningful.
How I Design Learning
Learning Design Case Study 1
Learning Challenge
Adult beginner learners often rely on direct translation from their native language when introducing themselves in French. Traditional self-introduction activities can also feel repetitive and emotionally disengaging, reducing learners' willingness to speak.
Design Decision
Instead of asking learners to introduce themselves or describe familiar people, I transformed the activity into a scenario-based role-play.
The linguistic objective remained the same, but the learning context became more authentic, engaging and emotionally meaningful. This approach encouraged learners to focus on communication rather than translation while creating a safe environment for spoken interaction.
Learning Activity
Imagine you are walking along the Seine in Paris. Suddenly, you meet someone you truly admire—a well-known public figure. You introduce yourself, start a conversation, ask questions, and respond naturally as the dialogue unfolds.
Rather than practising isolated phrases, learners use the target language within a meaningful and memorable context that encourages authentic communication and active participation.
Learning Outcome
Learning Design Case Study 2
Learning Challenge
Learners often struggle to understand abstract grammatical structures when they approach them mainly as rules to memorise. As a result, grammatical forms can remain detached from the meaning they express and difficult to retrieve when needed in communication.
Design Decision
Instead of presenting the grammatical structure through rules and terminology alone, I introduced a strong visual metaphor.
The expression "Je suis en train de..." was associated with the image of a moving train as a visual cue for the idea of an action in progress. The train does not explain the literal meaning of the expression; rather, its movement provides learners with a simple visual association for remembering that the structure describes an action currently unfolding.
This transformed an abstract grammatical form into a more concrete visual reference that learners could use alongside the grammatical explanation.
Learning Activity
Imagine watching a train moving through a station. Use its movement as a visual reminder: Je suis en train de... introduces an action that is in progress at that moment.
Learning Outcome
Learners were able to associate the structure more readily with the idea of an ongoing action and retrieve it more easily during subsequent speaking activities.