Highly Experienced Certified Teacher: WRITING and ITALIAN

Deborah P.

Strong process for creative writing

Deborah started tutoring my son about one year ago. He was going into seventh grade and needed support to improve his writing skills (grammar, spelling, vocabulary, structure, support). What we didn't know is that my son has a love for writing, but was getting stuck on the technicalities. In working with Deborah, he learned to express himself freely with out any technical restrictions, then they would revise the paper together. This has now moved to him completing the revisions himself with much less support. With this process his is no longer intimidated by the technicalities and is a much more expressive writer. He even chooses to write for fun! Thank you Deborah for your great support this year and for the wonderful growth we have seen in Connor.

Lisa, 40 lessons with Deborah

I’m so glad we found Deborah!

My middle-school-age son has been receiving online tutoring from Deborah for about nine months. I was looking for a tutor because writing had always been an area of difficulty for him, and he was becoming more reluctant to make an effort on his writing assignments. Deborah had him start with brief, interesting writing prompts that focused on the types of writing that came easily to him. Within a few weeks, I noticed that he was doing his school writing assignments without complaining or wasting time. I was amazed and relieved to see the change. They have continued working together on creative writing, some classwork, and personal essays. I am so pleased that my son is enjoying their sessions and developing his writing skills. I can hear his voice in his writing now instead of the formulaic approach that he had been learning at school. My son would like to add that Deborah works in his comfort zone so that he doesn't feel overwhelmed. She focuses on what he does well and makes sure to improve areas where he needs help. I highly recommend Deborah as a tutor. We have had a great experience and the Wyzant site has been easy to use.

Eli, 49 lessons with Deborah

Excellent Tutor!!

Deborah has the wonderful ability, along with a considerable amount of patience, to meet me exactly where I am in my journey to speak better Italian. Her first question to me was "what are your goals as you learn Italian?" My lessons are always personal and particularly directed to my goals. Recent trips to Italy have proven to me that her methods are working for me. I highly recommend working with Deborah if you desire to learn, improve, or advance your knowledge of Italian.

Gregory, 53 lessons with Deborah

An excellent writing tutor, highly recommend!

My son is working on his college application packages and he needed some one to proofread his UC PIQ responses and provide advices. Luckily we found Deborah. Deborah was very helpful. Her turnaround was very quick, usually within a day or two. More importantly, her review was very thorough and to the point. In addition to the technical issues such as grammar mistakes or sentence structure, she honestly yet gently pointed out areas for improvement. For example, Deborah advised my son about how to write a better (more interesting) first paragraph such that the committee members do not get bored when reading his essays. The final draft is so much better than what my son originally sent her. We are all very pleased. Because of the nature of this "class", Deborah did not do video tutoring with my son. All communications were done through Google Docs. Deborah was also very careful about the time: she carefully logged the time of working and taking a break, so that she only billed me for the time she worked on the review. Thank you, Deborah!

Jason, 3 lessons with Deborah

Excellent tutor!

We have had the pleasure of working with Deborah for over a year in multiple sessions. She has tutored our middle school aged child in writing and spelling. She had consistently planned and adjusted the curriculum as needed. She made spelling fun and interesting. Feedback has been honest and thorough. Our child's skills and confidence have improved significantly with her help. We look forward to continuing to work with Deborah to continue to refine skills needed for high school and college.

Susan, 51 lessons with Deborah

Very patient and makes learning fun

Deborah has helped us gain confidence in learning a new language. She is a very patient tutor and makes the lesson fun. She is great at explaining things clearly and makes it comfortable for you to ask for help.

Jennifer, 28 lessons with Deborah

Knows how to enter the topic based on my background with Italy

Deborah P. knows theory, practice and a variety of reinforcing tools to help cement the pieces. I think she knows opportunities and possibilities very well, which is so important arriving to reasonable fluency earlier than later. Italian is fun and yet also a serious challenge. Multiple learning strategies are helpful, and she has them. Deborah lived, worked, and studied in Italy for 25 years. Text lessons take on more meaning more quickly from her practical and classroom studies in Italy. After all this is a life style and a language we are trying to master!

Edward, 150 lessons with Deborah

Smart responsive tutor

She was great. First lesson so we discussed the course of study and what books to use. She recommended a movie. It was fun and useful. We talked about Italian culture and my goals and we discussed how far I might be able to get in my first few months.

Amy, 6 lessons with Deborah

Buongiorno a tutti!

Have you wanted to expand your horizons by learning a new language? Are you like me who said ‘I am not good at languages’ or ‘I cannot go to a class because of professional demands’? These were things I said over 80-classes ago when I found Deborah on Wyzant. At the beginning, I spoke no Italian but had visited Italy multiple times. I must say, I was apprehensive that this would be like a college class with drills, assignments, and tests. Though I know Deborah would help if I were taking classes, my experience has been very different. You ask, ‘how has it been different’? Here are some of the activities we do during our weekly session. 1. Grammar – I have chosen to do grammar exercises in an effort to learn correct sentence construction and spelling. These provide a structured method to learn and understand, not only the language, but the ‘why’ of using one term over another. We have discussed how do I greet a shopkeeper, my son, or a teenager. One mustn’t be rude after all! 2. Vacation – When I visited northern Italy in 2019, Deborah recommended a book with CD to prepare me for traveling. The focus was on planes, trains, and automobiles in situations my husband and I might come across. 3. Photos – To reinforce lessons, we have discussions pertaining to my photographs. For example: when learning family names (i.e., Mom, Dad, brother, sister), I described each person in the photograph. Most times Deborah has to hear about my cat and dog too! When we go on walks, I often take photos of flowers, trees, or neighborhood dogs to describe during our lessons. 4. Books in Italian – I do love children’s books! As I have begun to learn Italian, Deborah suggested books for me to read to myself and out loud. I still think about them when trying to remember a word. When traveling in Italy, I visited bookstores to find books to use in our lessons. Since I love to cook, one of them is a cookbook showcasing recipes from Verona. During the week I will translate the recipe and may even try it! To share with Deborah, I scan in the page and we discuss the instructions, quite often with me practicing my verbal reading skills. 5. Culture comparison. After physical visits, or internet research, I often have questions on life in Italy. Why do they do that? What does it mean? Do they have similar holiday traditions? Deborah’s experience from living in Italy and her continuing contacts, allow for insight into the local customs. The gist of this missive, is that I would recommend Deborah for anyone learning Italian or English. Susan R Stephenson

Susan, 196 lessons with Deborah

Encouraging and helpful

Deborah does a nice job of encouraging & guiding my son with his writing assignments, without helping too much. She allows him to do the work himself & then offers suggestions & corrections as needed. He's learning how to structure his thoughts & put those on paper. Deborah is also very flexible with meeting times & can do in-person or on-line tutoring. Very helpful.

Anita, 33 lessons with Deborah