Experienced ESL Tutor

Richard H.

I was a teacher for almost 40 years, including the last 16 teaching English as a Second Language to adults from all over the world. I have taught students at every level, from beginner to advanced, and enjoy helping students become more confident and comfortable using English. I can help with conversation and fluency, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, reading and writing, and everyday English. I tailor my lessons to each student’s individual needs and goals.
I taught at EF San Francisco, LSI in Berkeley and Kaplan in Berkeley. At all three schools, I received excellent performance evaluations and, more importantly, praise from students in their exit interviews. I was recognized for my detailed lessons, patient explanations, imaginative lesson plans and personalized approach. At EF, I also spent two years evaluating other teachers. This allowed me not only to give feedback to my colleagues but to learn from both their successes and mistakes.
In addition to teaching classes, I gave one-on-one tutoring sessions. I worked with students at all levels, and my efforts earned praise from those I tutored. I helped students with grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, writing and listening. I also taught a pronunciation elective for several years at EF, helping students improve their ability to produce and recognize the sounds of American English. Sometimes we focused on a particular area a student wanted to improve, while at other times we worked more generally on developing their English.
I found one-on-one teaching especially gratifying because it gave me the opportunity to focus on the needs of an individual student and see their progress firsthand. If you work with me, we will identify the areas of English that are most important to you and build our lessons around your particular goals.