Reading Exercises - English Tutors & Teachers

My passion and life's work is teaching. I received my license to teach Spanish and English as a Second Language in 2014. Since then, I have been a Spanish teacher and just recently started a position as a Bilingual teacher. Additionally, I am working on a Master's in Bilingual Education. I have worked with a diverse group of students in my school to provide support in English and Spanish. Additionally, I have been a tutor to adult English learners at the Literacy Network in Madison, Wisconsin. I absolutely loved the experience of working one-on-one with a student, as I was able to provide a very personalized and effective lesson. I have loved the experience of using Verbling to practice my conversational Spanish. I wish to work on the opposite end, and provide this teaching experience to English learners. Due to my own journey of learning Spanish, I possess great empathy for my students, and an intuition for their learning needs. I understand and utilize effective skills for teaching language. These skills include: targeted, yet balanced correction of errors, gently pushing a student towards more complex uses of language, and consistently asking for feedback and output of language. Ultimately, I want to provide my students with the chance to develop their language skills in a non-threatening, but challenging and efficient environment. My style of teaching is inspired by real world contexts. Targeted grammar lessons are helpful and necessary. However, my students need to use language in authentic situations, such as retelling a story, asking for help, analyzing a current event, or conducting an interview. I desire fluency and confidence for my students as they grow in their abilities.

Tell me your goal and I will create a pathway for you to reach it. Tell me what interests you and I will find a way for you to learn English from it. I will help you be yourself in English and we usually have a lot of fun as we learn about British culture. You will speak a lot in lessons but these are not just conversation classes, they are well-planned, structured lessons designed to move you forward every lesson towards the goal that is specific to you and to increase your confidence and help you express yourself. Lessons with me are created from what is relevant to you. In the trial lesson I ask you questions to discover what you want and need, and then send you a learning plan. I'm also a professional writer with over 10 years experience writing for different companies so I can help you improve your writing for job applications, CVs, emails, academic essays, written exam papers, and more. Typical questions/comments from new students: • How can you help me progress in English? • Can you describe a typical lesson? • What materials do you use in your lessons? • I can speak some English but I don’t feel like I express my personality • Tell me more about you as a teacher • Do you teach Business English and help with CVs, applications, and interviews? • Do you prepare students for exams? • I suffer from anxiety/I am Autistic and do not want to learn English in a regular school. My responses… • How can you help me progress in English, and how do I learn from my errors? It is very common to feel like you are not progressing. This is often because you no longer know what mistakes you are making. Do you like to correct other people if they make a small mistake in your native language? Probably not. And most native English people don't like correcting other people either. So there may be small errors that have gone uncorrected for years because you are communicating well enough for these to not to be a big issue. I make detailed notes during each lesson while you speak, and at the end of the lesson we discuss any of your grammar/vocab/pronunciation errors. You will be provided with a word document of these errors to keep. At the beginning of your next lesson we review the errors from the previous lesson. I set homework at the end of each lesson (unless you specifically ask me not to) and we discuss it together at the beginning of the next lesson. I also create flashcards for you of any new vocabulary that you learnt in the lesson. And yes, I will test you on these in the next lesson, so you always feel like you are progressing. • Can you describe a typical lesson? No two lessons for different people are the same. I spend my time planning specific relevant lessons for each student so that you can spend your time in the lesson progressing in the areas that are important to you and your life. Some of my students are working on improving the vocabulary specific to their job, others are working with me to improve their confidence in speaking, and others are watching and reading film scripts and song lyrics so that they can understand all the wonderful English language media in the world. You can practice listening to different accents, look at the difference between UK and US English, and practice the different levels of formality in written and spoken English. You can also look at the famous British humour if you want to :) • What materials do you use in your lessons? I use a variety of speaking prompts, and visual and listening material that I choose specifically for each student to give you exposure to different accents, such as TED talks, youtube videos, TV series, and news websites. I can help you progress by using real authentic English material. If I find something online that I think you will find interesting I will send it to you via the chat in Verbling in between our classes for you to watch in your own time. I genuinely love helping my students to enjoy English and if I see something that makes me think of your needs then I will send it to you, just like you would with a friend. In my lessons there is often emphasis on pronunciation, from individual words, to the distinctive rhythm and intonation in English sentences. One of the best ways to improve confidence in listening and speaking is to look at your pronunciation. As I explain in my introduction video, if you know how to say a difficult word, or if you know how to join certain words together (we like to do this in English, sorry!) then you will be able to recognise this more easily in your listening. • I can speak some English but I don’t feel like I express my personality I use interesting and thought-provoking material which helps you to express your personality through English. I love having interesting discussions with my students about a range of topics and I give you the tools to speak English with more expression and emphasis, and to tailor your English for different situations. You get the opportunity to put vocabulary and grammar into spoken practice. You will study real everyday English and I will encourage you to use more interesting and expressive vocabulary so that you can really be yourself in another language. • Tell me more about you as a teacher I am a highly-qualified native English speaker from Wales in the UK with a standard British accent. People from Wales are famous for being friendly and funny. So you must visit Wales one day. But if you can't visit, book a lesson with me instead, it's the next best thing. I have a CELTA (pass A) from International House in Sicily, and have worked for the well-known International House in Bristol in the UK. As well as teaching online, I currently work as an English teacher in a private language school in Italy. I love my job and I put a lot of energy into making a lesson that is right for you. There's no better job than helping someone be able to travel or improve their career options, by helping them to improve their English. Before becoming a teacher I worked as a translator, an education consultant for Oxford University Press, a technical writer, an editor, and a short-story judge, so I have always worked with the English language in one way or another and have experience in using it in different industries for different purposes. I love language and the power it has to change people's lives, careers, and relationships. • Do you teach Business English? Yes I do. But…everyone's business/job is very different so please let me know what your specific needs are. Do you want to improve your interview technique? Do you need to write a Curriculum Vitae or application letter? Do you want to improve your presentation skills? Do you want to know the difference between formal and informal writing for emails? Do you want practise understanding English on the telephone? Do you want to improve your vocabulary for a specific industry? I have experience of teaching English in various companies in Italy, where I teach group classes of beginners and elementary students, as well as 1-1 lessons with the directors and CEO. I love learning about your different businesses and helping you progress in your career. Talk to me about your job and I will create a course specifically for you. • Do you prepare students for exams? Yes I do. I have all the material and experience to help you prepare for the Trinity ISE I, II, or III exam. I can do face to face exam simulations, and help explain the reading and writing parts and give you reading homework and writing activities to get you ready. • I suffer from anxiety/I am Autistic and do not want to learn English in a regular school. If you have any issues with communication then I can help you learn English in a calm and relaxed way, with very simple and clear instructions, and an awareness of the difficulties that you may have. Maybe you need help with the recognition of non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, how we use pauses and interjections in general conversation, and the subtle difference in tones of voice in English. We can practice this in a safe, relaxed space with different role plays of real life situations. I have over 7 years’ experience of volunteering with the National Autistic Society and am trained as an online communicator for children and adults on the autistic spectrum. Previous experience and training as a project manager for an online counselling charity has meant that I have been given 1-1 students in the past who experienced too much anxiety to work in a class environment. During my lessons if you need to stop before the end of the hour because of anxiety issues then I will refund you for any time that you did not use. Please contact me via a message on Verbling to discuss your individual needs.

Hello Verbling students! I live in the United States and I love teaching my native language. I'm also a self-taught Spanish speaker so I understand the challenges of learning a new language as an adult. Let's chat! Send me a message or book a trial class with me so I can find out exactly what you need to take the next step on the road to fluency. Have a great day and I'll see you in class! Привет из Америки! Меня зовут Луис и я носитель языка из красивого города Остин (штат Техас). Я самостоятельно учу испанский язык, и это позволяет мне отлично понимать особенности изучения новых языков от лица студента. Очень важно оставаться расслабленным и получать удовольствие, погружаясь в языковую среду, и наслаждаться процессом! Разговорный уровень - это не цель, которую можно достичь в определенный день, иногда вы будете делать два шага вперед и один назад. Это нормально. Просто продолжайте двигаться вперед, и у вас все получится! (Many thanks to my friend Max for the Russian part of my profile.)