Having studied several foreign languages that I have not spoken as a child, I have experienced the challenge of memorizing vocabulary, mastering complex grammatical structures, and developing listening comprehension skills while trying to understand the rapid speech of native speakers. Because proficiency in a second language comes with practice as well as time, I believe one-on-one teaching sessions are valuable for every student whether or not he or she is behind in his or her...
Having studied several foreign languages that I have not spoken as a child, I have experienced the challenge of memorizing vocabulary, mastering complex grammatical structures, and developing listening comprehension skills while trying to understand the rapid speech of native speakers. Because proficiency in a second language comes with practice as well as time, I believe one-on-one teaching sessions are valuable for every student whether or not he or she is behind in his or her coursework.
This past year I have had experience and success tutoring adolescents and adults in foreign languages and ESL. As an example, one of the high school students I worked with was able to improve one full letter grade in his Spanish class after two months of tutoring sessions with me (one two-hour session per week). First, I contacted his teacher, who helped clarify what areas needed improvement. I then researched acronyms and mnemonics to help him remember when to use a particular verb tense in Spanish as well as certain verb conjugations. Because this student was in an honors course, I consulted some of my Spanish textbooks saved from college in order to obtain different explanations of the same concepts that needed improvement.
I am willing to work with any curriculum based on the preferences of the student in addition to my own personal resources. Because language concepts can be complicated, I like to explain them by breaking them down into small pieces on which I gradually build so that the student does not feel overwhelmed with a long, wordy explanation. To verify whether a particular concept is mastered, I develop tests and quizzes for the student to take. Afterwards, I go over the results and remind him of the rules that apply to any items answered incorrectly. I then have the student keep my written feedback to study so as to avoid repeating the same mistakes. In addition to helping students master grammatical concepts and writing skills in the language, I also provide conversation time to develop oral proficiency
