Here are some of the ways I help you learn English.

Clear goals and commitment: When we start classes together we will set goals so that you can know you have made progress. It is easier to succeed if you know exactly what you want to communicate. Do you want to be able to make easy social connections in English? Do you want to be able to communicate your ideas in business meetings with English speaking colleagues? Or maybe you want to get a good score on the TOEFL or the TESL tests. We will work together to decide what you want to achieve and how to get there. It is important to keep your commitment at the level that works for you.

Confidence: When you learn your first language, your family is very happy to hear anything you have to say, even if it is not exactly right. A small child never thinks about making a mistake. One of the reasons that it is so much more difficult to learn a second language is the fear of sounding foolish. Fear makes it much harder to learn. I help students overcome this fear by bringing humor into the lesson--letting you laugh at mistakes, and creating a positive and encouraging environment. I also teach calming exercises to make you feel relaxed and alert. My students enjoy my classes because they are respected and encouraged to reach their highest potential.

Learning good habits: Translating from your first language can cause repeated mistakes in English. These bad habits are difficult to overcome unless you work on them directly. I will help you find the bad habits that affect your English, and use recordings and repeated listening to help you overcome these habits.

Comprehension: Learning to understand spoken English can be very challenging. Not understanding what others say to you makes it very hard to communicate. When we learn our first language we listen a lot before we say anything. When people learn a second language they often don't listen enough. We will work on comprehension together in class with fun exercises, and we also find ways that you can listen to English in your daily life so that you can improve your comprehension. I may have you listen to English podcasts on your ways to work, watch movies in English, or listen to the news in English. I will help you find ways to fit this into your schedule so that you can improve your English every day.

Words words words : Most students of English complain about not having the right words to express what they want to say exactly. But there is more to having the right words that memorizing a vocabulary list. You are more likely to remember a word if you hear it used, and use it yourself rather than just studying it on a list. This way you learn how the word is used, and how it sounds not just what it means.

At the end of session with me you don't get just a vocabulary list; you get a recording of the words used in a story, which I will email to you. This is good listening practice and it makes the words easier to remember. My stories are often strange and funny but they give you the opportunity to hear all the words used in a natural way.

Here is a sample of a vocabulary story that I recorded using these vocabulary words:

Pretend –verb
Deny –verb
Give up –verb
Put off –verb
Deserve -verb

Pronunciation: Pronouncing words, or saying them with the right sound, can be one of the most difficult parts of learning English. You have to learn to hear and say sounds that may not exist in your language. When I here students say a word wrong, I write it down. Later we go over the problem sounds, and make a recording of both myself and the student saying the words. Students can listen to the recording and hear how we say these words differently.