German (native speaker) & English (ESL/EFL) Language Tutor/Coach

Ursula G.

Thrilled to be working with Ursula!

I have taken German lessons from the Goethe Institute and university courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. Ursula far surpasses any teacher I have worked with! It's not just the fact that she genuinely cares for her students and comes to each lesson well prepared, it's also that she sets a high bar and pushes you to become the very best language learner you can be. Here are a few examples: 1. Most language teachers let minor errors with prepositions, case, and adjective endings slide. Ursula makes sure that you notice when you are repeatedly making a mistake, which is helpful for nipping bad habits in the bud and for training your ear to pick up the nuances of the language. 2. Most teachers give you a set list from which to memorize vocabulary, then quiz you on it later. Ursula keeps you motivated with regular assessments, but diversifies her questions beyond a given list so that you have to use your creative abilities and your existing knowledge to guess your way to the answer. This has enormous value for learning new phrases and making them a meaningful part of your working vocabulary. You also learn lots of synonyms in the process, and learn to differentiate them from each other in a way that rote memorization cannot achieve on its own. 3. Ursula tailors her teaching strategies to her students' unique needs and learning styles. My lessons are structured around a test prep book, and we regularly make time to discuss essays, presentations, and even email drafts that I've written and would like to edit. These lessons require advance preparation, but whenever I'm swamped with a busy schedule, Ursula steps in with a lesson plan that keeps me learning and immersed in the language. Once, when I was moving apartments, Ursula needed no prompting and designed a whole lesson on negation (a weak point for me), complete with a presentation of key ideas, practice sentences, and exercises to work on afterwards. I'm so grateful for the level of care and forethought that goes into each of our lessons. Can't recommend Ursula more highly.

Rachel, 269 lessons with Ursula

Excellent tutor

Ursula is energetic and knowledgable. She has a friendly, good-natured approach and helps with self-expression. She can give you the technical explanation and she can give a more nuanced sense of meaning and usage. I have enjoyed working with her.

Judith, 8 lessons with Ursula

Excellent Teacher !

Ursula is an excellent teacher. She is very patient and asked a number of questions to encourage me to talk. She gently corrected my grammatical mistakes and explained the correct grammer to me , which I appreciate--so I don't keep making the same mistake! She is clearly an experienced teacher.

Diane, 6 lessons with Ursula

Great German Tutor-highly recommended!

My daughter had two lessons so far with Ursula so far. We are very happy with her sessions. She is well prepared, very helpful and very patient!

Nicole, 2 lessons with Ursula

Knowledgeable, resourceful, engaging tutor

I love Ursula’s combination of precision and encouragement. Working with Ursula, you will receive clear direction about what is right and proper, but you will also know that it’s okay if you are still working on a topic or element of the language.

Conrad, 30 lessons with Ursula

Knowledgable and patient tutor

Ursula is an excellent tutor! She is patient but also very good at pushing us to speak and comprehend more. Very lucky to have found her. Looking forward to having more lessons with her.

Blaise, 129 lessons with Ursula

Excellent and dedicated tutor

I have been tutored by Ursula since early November 2022, 3x week and every lesson has been productive, easy to understand complex German grammar and with positive energy. I advanced significantly in my journey to learn German language and truly enjoyed it. Ursula has a natural talent to tutor students and motivate continuous learning of the language. I am very happy working with Ursula!

Nina, 231 lessons with Ursula

Excellent teacher!

I contacted Ursula because I needed conversation lessons in English. She is a fabulous teacher who convinced me from the start, not just with her professional expertise but also with her delightful personality. I found her warm, friendly, sympathetic, patient, understanding, and reliable. What I like the most are her positive vibes, her smile on her lips almost all the time, and that she is always in a good mood. She explains everything very well, not just challenging vocabulary and expressions but also English grammar, which can sometimes be daunting. Moreover, it is also easy to talk with her about any topic. I am so thankful to her because she helped me lose my fear of speaking English and even using awful English grammar. Since I started taking lessons with Ursula, my English skills have improved so much that I now prefer reading English books and watching films in English; I am no longer afraid to speak and write to native English speakers. I highly recommend this tutor!

Maria, 119 lessons with Ursula

So glad we found Ursula!

Fantastic tutoring session with Ursula! It’s been over a year since my son finished HS German 1 (100% online, unfortunately) so we wanted to refresh his memory before starting German 2 in a classroom next school year. Ursula is helping him clear out the cobwebs and he is starting to feel like German 2 isn’t so scary. Thank you Ursula!!!

Kyle, 46 lessons with Ursula

A fine teacher.

It was my very good fortune to find Ursula and continue my learning German journey. I have found her instruction clear and well organized. She is teaching me to communicate in German as a native would. She pushes me and I learn. I enjoy her sense of humor. I have had over 200 lessons in the past two years. It has been a pleasure. Dan Drath, student

Daniel, 359 lessons with Ursula