Since the age of 15 years old, I have tutored language in various capacities, including freelance, a small school in Oaxaca, Mexico, Lewis & Clark's Academic English Studies, Club Z In-home tutoring, as a Lindamood Bell clinician, and most recently freelance for business owners. My feeling is this: the United States monolingual tendencies have convinced most people that if they struggle to learn a language, it must be their fault. Language learning here is often attributed to some intrinsic...
Since the age of 15 years old, I have tutored language in various capacities, including freelance, a small school in Oaxaca, Mexico, Lewis & Clark's Academic English Studies, Club Z In-home tutoring, as a Lindamood Bell clinician, and most recently freelance for business owners. My feeling is this: the United States monolingual tendencies have convinced most people that if they struggle to learn a language, it must be their fault. Language learning here is often attributed to some intrinsic quality that some people have and others don't. My work here is to convince you that that's not true. I believe that, and it has been corroborated with my work tutoring, that language learning can only take place when we begin to judge ourselves less. We must enter a kind of Flow State, where we allow ourselves to make mistakes, a kind of childlike openness. Thus, I use a variety of methods in tutoring language learning, including textbooks (if appropriate and desired,) pop culture and other media sources, and smartphone applications. My goal in language tutoring is to make it so that you don't need me anymore, and are able to frequently converse/write/read in the target language successfully. This looks different for everyone depending on their goals, and a lesson plan will depend on target goals of each student. Bring your shame, embarrassment, your reluctance--and also your energy. The only wrong way to learn is not to try. Hopefully I'll see you soon!
-Ezra
