ESL Services

Conversation

Having the chance to speak with a native speaker is, hands down, the best possible way to learn and improve your conversational English. It forces you to be quick and natural with your speaking, while at the same time, it improves your listening and comprehension skills.

Our conversation classes together will focus largely on free conversation (you or I will pick a topic and just discuss it however we wish), where I will take note of any errors you make along the way and explain them to you thoroughly.

However, as per your requirements, I will also incorporate grammar, vocabulary, and idioms into each lesson, so that you will constantly have new English "tools" that you can use in your daily life. Basically, each and every class will be tailored to your needs.

Pronunciation

Fluent pronunciation in English (or any language, really) is arguably the hardest thing to learn. The reason for this is that we are programmed to hear and speak in our native language, with the muscles in our tongue developing in a certain way to be able to pronounce the sounds that we needed while growing up.

Thus, to properly say new sounds, we must work to develop not only these muscles, but also an acute sense of hearing to understand what sounds we are aiming for in the first place. There are a variety of exercises I will employ to teach you just that, while learning new vocabulary along the way.

Grammar

Ah, grammar: few things are hated by ESL students as much as grammar. Tenses, modals, infinitives, gerunds, singular/plural form - no matter how you look at it, English grammar can be extremely intimidating and confusing at times. But no need to worry, we'll learn this step-by-step based on your needs.

If something is too easy for you, we'll move right along to the next concept. On the other hand, if something is too hard, we'll focus on it until you're comfortable with it. I promise I'll try to make it as pain-free as possible!

Essays

Between my high school and university education, I have written countless essays (with a handful of them being A+ papers), so I definitely know a thing or two about writing a good one.

Although writing a 1500 word paper may seem overwhelming at first, when you break it up into little sections, it's really not that bad. An essay is just an organized collection of paragraphs, which in turn are just organized collections of sentences.

Through lessons and exercises, we'll go through each stage of the writing process and before you know it, the essays will just start writing themselves!

Idioms

If someone said to you...

"Man, I'm in a real pickle this time."

or

"She sold me out, yet again."

or

"Get with the program, foolio!"

...would you have any idea what they mean?

Even if it seems that your grammar and vocabulary are perfect (if there is such a thing!), you might be surprised by how little you understand when you visit a different English-speaking country (or even city) from the one you are used to. A major reason for this is idioms, slang and phrasal verbs - all local idiosyncrasies that you would have no way of knowing unless you were familiar with the area or people from the area. With me, you can ask me anything and everything - including the questions you can't ask in class.

Using books, online resources, and my own numerous examples, I will teach the most important ones to you individually. As they start to sink in, you'll be amazed with how much more you understand of films, songs and, most importantly, daily interactions with others. Eureka!